Los Angeles-based artist Lauren Halsey has revealed the first renderings of an upcoming sculpture park that she will install in her hometown of South Central. The forthcoming project is aesthetically similar to the monumental rooftop installation she presented last year at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Entitled “sister dreamer, lauren halsey’s architectural ode to tha surge n splurge of south central los angeles,” the temporary sculpture park is curated by Los Angeles Nomadic Division (LAND) co-founder Christine Y. Kim and is supported by the Mellon Foundation’s Monuments Project. From a distance, the park looks like a trip back to Ancient Egypt, as Halsey casts eight sphinxes and eight totemic columns with the head of the Egyptian goddess of beauty, Hathor.
Viewed closer, however, Halsey recontexualizes the grandeur often cast on works of antiquity, by reframing the focus to spotlight Black culture in LA, which she champions through images of community leaders and motivational phrases. Halsey has described the park as “a living expression of the dynamic power of community,” adding that she “aims to inspire liberation, self-definition, community building and economic autonomy.” The project will open to the public in spring 2026.
