Lauren Halsey’s “sister dreamer” Sculpture Park Is a Love Letter to South Central LA
Located on the block that raised her.
For Lauren Halsey fans, the wait is finally over: the “sister dreamer” sculpture park is officially open. Located at Western Avenue and 76th Street through November 2027, the new park is dually designed as an installation and community center, ready to serve the South Central community.
Fully titled “sister dreamer, lauren halsey’s architectural ode to that sure n splurge of south central los angeles,” the project is a love letter to her family’s multigenerational roots in the neighborhood. “I grew up on Western Avenue, in the area surrounding sister dreamer,” said Halsey. “It was and still is a beautiful environment, a place and time of joy, genius and freedom.”
Halsey first imagined the park over a decade ago while studying architecture at El Camino Community College. Though much of the neighborhood has changed since — buildings burned down, left abandoned — her love for its residents only grew. “The community understood that these empty lots could be used for different functions and needs,” she expressed. “And it is this same ingenuity, imaginative capacity and everyday brilliance that ‘sister dreamer’ celebrates and is focused on activating for others in my community.”
The park centers on a courtyard with filled fountains, fruit trees, vegetables and plant life native to the site. Surrounding the square are eight sphinxes and towering, Hathoric columns inscribed with the faces of Halsey’s personal heroes — her family, friends and community leaders.
Supervsn / @maliklphoto
Supervsn / @maliklphoto
Supervsn / @maliklphoto
Supervsn / @maliklphoto
Supervsn / @maliklphoto
Supervsn / @maliklphoto
Supervsn / @maliklphoto
Supervsn / @maliklphoto
Supervsn / @maliklphoto
Supervsn / @maliklphoto
Supervsn / @maliklphoto
“sister dreamer” serves as a physical homebase for Summaeverythang Community Center, the nonprofit Halsey founded in 2020. From here, the organization will host public programming focused on art, education, ecology and wellness, with a screening of “Love Is the Message” by Arthur Jafa first on deck.
South Central showed up and out for the opening last Saturday, which took shape as a four-block-long street fair featuring games, sounds by Parliament-Funkadelic, a pop-up skate park, alongside garments by Supervsn and Come Tees aka Sonya Sombreuil. Swipe through the galleries above to see what went down.
