With ‘Sister Dreamer’ Park, Lauren Halsey Brings Her Heroes Home

You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.

With ‘Sister Dreamer’ Park, Lauren Halsey Brings Her Heroes Home

The artist’s installation in South Central Los Angeles elevates familiar faces in the neighborhood with monuments of stone.

Credit...

Supported by

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

Listen

· 8:54 min

Share full article

By

Robin Pogrebin

Visuals by

Amanda Hakan

Reporting from Los Angeles

April 28, 2026

Yolanda Mims Reed came with fellow members of Local 99, the service employees union. Barron Dickerson brought along her aunt Alice. Malik Beyard dropped in by himself.

They were excited to spot people and places from their neighborhood carved into the walls —

Deryl with the Curl

’s carwash and automotive repair shop,

Krst Unity

spiritual center, Sika Dwimfo, known as the “Godfather of Leimert Park,” who

died

in 2024.

They were also simply gratified to see themselves.

“I looked up and I said, ‘Oh my God, that’s our faces,” Reed said. “This is what we needed, this is what our neighborhood needed, this is what our people needed.”

These visitors had come to the corner of Western Avenue and 76th Street in South Central Los Angeles to see the long-awaited sculpture park created by the artist

Lauren Halsey

, which opened in March and runs through September 2027.

The installation, “

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

,” combines Halsey’s contemporary perspective infused with ancient Egypt and Africa. It features eight columns and eight sphinxes, along with plantings, benches and fountains. A central open air cube is carved with the names, faces and bodies of neighborhood figures; political marches and festive parades; the signage of long-gone local businesses.

“A lot of our history is not told — erasure is real,” said Daquinnise Woodard, a therapist who was visiting the site. “So this is beautiful.”

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and

log into

your Times account, or

subscribe

for all of The Times.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber?

Log in

.

Want all of The Times?

Subscribe

.

Related Content

Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT