Begin Again: Honey Chile’ by Alison Saar is the fourth and final installment in Laumeier’s Begin Again series, which honors the Park’s 50-year history of collaborating with artists and supporting new commissions and exhibitions.

A mixed-race artist of African American, European and Native American ancestry, many of Saar’s sculptural objects stand as potent totems and often explore issues of gender, race, heritage, identity, religion, and history. Saar credits her mother, acclaimed collage and assemblage artist Betye Saar, with exposing her to metaphysical and spiritual traditions that have inspired her artwork for the last 25 years.

Saar has a deep history with the Park that began in 1997 with her commission Leelinau, an enchanting figurative work influenced by the legend of a North American Indigenous girl destined to live forever in a sacred wood inhabited by spirits and fairies. Originally, Saar intended for Leelinau to slowly decay over time. Instead, a colossal storm in 2015 destroyed the mostly wooden sculpture, which was perched high in a tree. Past the point of repair, the sculpture was respectfully de-accessioned. 

Now, more than ten years later, Laumeier has re-engaged Saar to reimagine her original piece and create an entirely new large-scale sculpture. Standing eight feet tall, the main figure is a feral child with a honeybee hive nestled in one of the branches sprouting from her hair. The honey she carries in her hair and hands acts as a symbol of healing, nourishment, and resilience. She offers the bees shelter and support, while they provide her with sustenance and protection.

Cast in stainless steel and coated with a dark green and brown patina, Honey Chile’ has a mighty presence while simultaneously blending in with the surrounding woodland. Standing atop a large stone, the young woman overlooks the trail as visitors pass by, gazing towards the creek beyond.

Header Photo: Alison Saar, Site study for "Honey Chile’," 2026. Digital rendering. Courtesy of the artist.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Alison Saar was born in Los Angeles in 1956 to Betye Saar, a well-known African American artist, and to Richard Saar, an art conservationist. Saar earned her Bachelor of Arts from Scripps College, Claremont California in 1978 and her Master of Fine Arts from Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles in 1981. She also studied African, Latin American, and Caribbean art and religion, which gave her art a multicultural approach. Saar’s work has been exhibited and is represented in several national collections including: The Barack Obama Presidential Center; the Baltimore Art Museum; the Metropolitan Museum of Art; The Studio Museum in Harlem; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C.; Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Houston; the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; the Santa Barbara Museum of Art; and the Art Institute of Chicago among many others. She has received grants and awards from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation in 1989 and the National Endowment for the Arts. At Laumeier, Saar was featured in the exhibition, Spiritual Presence: Joyce Scott, Judy Onofrio and Alison Saar at Laumeier in 1997.

2026 Exhibitions are supported by The Whitaker Foundation, 21c Museum Hotel St. Louis, Ken and Nancy Kranzberg, Joan and Mitchell Markow and Two Sister’s Foundation, Emily Rauh Pulitzer, and Mary Ann and Andy Srenco.  

Begin Again: Alison Saar, Honey Chile’ is made possible by John and Susan Horseman and supported by PNC Foundation.