This Juneteenth, L.A. Louver is proud to announce that Los Angeles artist Alison Saar has debuted a new sculpture commissioned by the Obama Presidential Center, which opened this week in Chicago. Saar is one of 30 artists selected to create and contribute site-specific works for the nearly 20-acre campus.

“Saar’s Torch Song is a towering cast bronze figure inspired by the Statue of Liberty and embodies the soul of Chicago’s blues heritage. As the bronze figure raises a gilded flame in song, she becomes a beacon of resistance and truth, igniting viewers to challenge the status quo and expose injustice,” according to the center.

Torch Song can be viewed in the Women’s Garden on the center's outdoor grounds.

Alison Saar works primarily in multimedia sculpture, installation, and printmaking, utilizing layered references to history, literature, and mythology to recount stories about Black life past and present. To learn more about Alison Saar, visit her artist page.