Alison Saar is an American artist who was born in Los Angeles, California in 1956 and grew up in Laurel Canyon, California. Her parents were Betye Saar, a well-known African American artist, and Richard Saar, an art conservationist. Both parents encouraged their three daughters, all artists, to look at a wide range of art. They were given books on art and were taken to area museums. They also saw Outsider Art, such as Simon Rodia's Watts Towers i...
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Alison Saar is an American artist who was born in Los Angeles, California in 1956 and grew up in Laurel Canyon, California. Her parents were Betye Saar, a well-known African American artist, and Richard Saar, an art conservationist. Both parents encouraged their three daughters, all artists, to look at a wide range of art. They were given books on art and were taken to area museums. They also saw Outsider Art, such as Simon Rodia's Watts Towers in Los Angeles and Grandma Prisbrey's Bottle Village in Simi Valley. During high school, Alison began assisting her father in his restoration work. Dealing with artifacts from different cultures―Chinese frescoes, Egyptian mummies, and Pre-Columbian and African art―taught Alison about properties of various materials, techniques, and aesthetics. She received a BA from Scripps College (Claremont, CA) in 1978, having studied African and Caribbean art with Dr. Samella Lewis. Saar’s thesis was on Southern African-American folk art. She received an...
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