LAUREN HALSEY
sister dreamer, lauren halsey’s architectural ode to tha surge n splurge of south central los angeles

LAND presents Lauren Halsey’s sister dreamer, lauren halsey’s architectural ode to tha surge n splurge of south central los angeles, a monument to the artist’s community of South Central Los Angeles. sister dreamer is made possible with lead support from the Mellon Foundation’s Monuments Project, an unprecedented, multi-year, $500 million commitment aimed at transforming the U.S. commemorative landscape to ensure that the nation’s collective histories are more completely and accurately represented, and is curated and co-produced by Christine Y. Kim. Open from Spring 2025 through Fall 2026, the site will feature a schedule of public programming by Summaeverythang Community Center, Halsey’s nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering and uplifting the South Central community.

Known for immersive installations that bridge sculpture and architecture, Halsey recontextualizes and reinterprets local vernacular sources such as flyers, murals, signs, and tags—icons of pride, autonomy, initiative, and resilience. Both celebrating Black cultural expressions and archiving them, her work offers a form of creative resistance to the forces of gentrification. In addition to the signs and symbols of contemporary South Central, the artist employs the iconography of ancient Egypt as a means of reclaiming lost legacies. 

In 2006, Halsey began designing sister dreamer while studying architecture at El Camino Community College. Early prototypes of the work appeared as architectural interventions at the Studio Museum in Harlem in 2015, the Hammer Museum in 2018, and most recently as the rooftop commission at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2023. The work investigates what architecture can be and how public space can invite collective creation. 

Halsey always imagined sister dreamer embedded within South Central Los Angeles. Construction has already begun on a vacant lot that is a location of personal significance to the artist. Halsey, alongside Christine Y. Kim and LAND have been working for the past two and a half years to realize the project at this location.

With sister dreamer, Halsey wanted to create a monument to the neighborhood where her family has lived for several generations and which she still calls home. This work is more than just a monument; it is forward-looking and serves as a living expression of the dynamic power of community. sister dreamer aims to inspire liberation, self-definition, community building, and economic autonomy through artmaking, paid jobs, skill-sharing, workshops and cultural programming fostering socio-cultural and economic resiliency.

FUTURE PROGRAMMING
sister dreamer is living architecture. This vision will come to life through activations and public engagement programs by Summaeverythang Community Center, led by director of programming Diamond Jones. With the intention of serving the immediate neighborhood around the park, the comprehensive schedule will include film screenings, health and wellness workshops, music performances, conversations, and youth-engaged events that provide opportunities for connection and creativity. With a commitment to accessibility, all programming at sister dreamer will be available to the public free of cost.

COLLABORATORS
sister dreamer is being realized by a team of Los Angeles-based partners led by design collaborative Current Interests, Taslimi Construction, and Green House, alongside Dimensional Worldwide.

SUPPORT
With lead support from the Mellon Foundation, additional fundraising is necessary and currently underway by LAND to fully realize the artist’s vision. If you would like to contribute to the realization of sister dreamer, please email Christopher Mangum-James, LAND Deputy Director, at christopher@nomadicdivision.org.

Read the full press release here.