Our 2026 Venice family Clinic Art Exhibition + Auction signature artist is Alison Saar, a contemporary artist who transforms found materials to recontextualize histories, mythologies and folklore, particularly within the African diaspora and Indigenous cultures. A Los Angeles-born and raised artist, she has been a consistent collaborator with Venice Family Clinic like her mother, the renowned artist Betye Saar, before her. In 2021, she created a special print edition of her work depicting traditional healers, La Curandera, to benefit Venice Family Clinic. She was also Venice Art Walk’s signature artist in 2015 alongside Allen Ruppersberg.
“My work is rooted in exploring history, identity, and the layered stories carried through materials, giving form to experiences that are often unseen or overlooked,” said Alison Saar. “To be part of Venice Family Clinic Art Exhibition + Auction is incredibly meaningful, as it extends that intention beyond the artwork itself, bringing people together through art to support care, dignity and community.”
Saar explained during a Q&A in 2021 that the Clinic’s history as a place where artists and healers came together to care for the community pulls her to participate in our annual art exhibition and auction fundraiser. But art is personally healing for Saar, too. Looking back, she realizes art was a mental health outlet for her as a child when her artist family lacked the resources to keep her occupied or engaged otherwise. Now, as a professional artist, making works like Razin Cane — the piece featured on this year’s official poster — help her explore and reframe her ancestry and family history. Razin Cane depicts a powerful slave revolt printed on tapestries hung from curtain rods affixed with the fleur-de-lis— the symbol French colonialists previously used to brand the people they enslaved.
“[Art] can heal on so many levels” Saar said. “It can give us the strength to push forward. It can give us the time for introspection. And making it definitely heals me.”
You can learn more about our signature artist Alison Saar at her official bio here.
Alison Saar with her work Lunarseas: Sea of Moisture at the Venice Family Clinic Art Exhibition + Auction gallery.
Photo: Todd Williamson/Shutterstock for Venice Family Clinic