Saar, renowned for her powerful assemblages that document histories of racism and survival, personally reached out to each curator with a heartfelt request. In her letters, she thanked them for their engagement with her work over the years and asked for their help in creating a comprehensive resource for future generations of curators, researchers, writers, and art historians. "Your firsthand experience, insight and unique perspective make you invaluable in this effort, and I would be grateful for you to become a part of this Legacy Group," Saar wrote. "It is important to me that future generations have access to the knowledge and perspectives of those who have been closely involved with my work."
All nine curators accepted the invitation, forming an all-star group that represents some of the most influential voices in contemporary art curation. The Legacy Group includes Museum of Modern Art director Christophe Cherix, Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona director Elvira Dyangani Ose, and Mark Godfrey, who collaborated on the groundbreaking exhibition "Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power," which prominently featured Saar's work.
Additional members include Esther Adler, a curator of drawings and prints at MoMA; Carlo Barbatti, a curator at Milan's Fondazione Prada who organized a comprehensive Saar survey in 2016; Carol S. Eliel, senior curator emerita at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Diana Seave Greenwald, a collection curator at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum; Stephanie Seidel, an Institute of Contemporary Art Miami curator currently writing her PhD dissertation on Saar's work; and Zoé Whitley, who is writing a biography of the artist.
"It's an amazing opportunity, and also daunting: how do you cover nearly a century of someone's life?" said Whitley. "But it's a worthwhile opportunity to think about the many different people that she's known and evolved with. It's very exciting."
The Legacy Group will work closely with Saar's daughters—primarily Tracye, but also Alison and Lezley, both accomplished artists themselves—to provide access to documentation and archival materials that Saar has carefully preserved throughout her decades-long career. This collaboration aims to ensure that museums, art historians, and critics will have comprehensive resources to understand and interpret Saar's work for years to come.
"Over the years I have worked with all of the members and they each have gathered a unique bit of know-how, a particular insight, about my creative process," Saar said in a statement. "I look forward to future projects with this special group of individuals that I consider not just colleagues but also my friends."
Julie Roberts, co-founder of Los Angeles's Roberts Projects gallery, which has long represented Saar, emphasized that the Legacy Group serves a distinct purpose. "She wants next generations—future generations when she's not around—to still be able to speak about her work in such a way that they respect her wishes," Roberts explained. "It's not just a retrospective, and it's not just a biography. It's looking to the future of what Tracye and I will need to carry us forward."
Roberts clarified that the Legacy Group is not intended as a replacement for an estate or retrospective exhibitions, but rather as a supplement to these traditional preservation methods. A European retrospective of Saar's work is planned for 2027, though the specific venue has not yet been announced.
Saar has been active in the art world since the 1960s and is celebrated for her sculptures crafted primarily from found materials that she has collected over the years. "She took assemblage in a new direction," Whitley observed. "Betye was able to see the world and then distill it into assemblage." The artist has maintained relationships with influential figures like sculptor David Hammons and has served as a mentor to artists including painter Kerry James Marshall, creating what Whitley describes as "this fascinating nexus of thinking about her."
Saar remains best known for her iconic 1972 sculpture "The Liberation of Aunt Jemima," in which an Aunt Jemima figurine is equipped with both a small broom and a tiny rifle, creating a powerful statement about racial stereotypes and empowerment. However, her body of work extends far beyond this famous piece, encompassing prints and monumental installations that continue to resonate with contemporary audiences.
The Getty Research Institute has facilitated a separate initiative focused on digitizing Saar's extensive archives, including materials related to "The Liberation of Aunt Jemima" and many other significant works. This digital preservation effort operates independently from the Legacy Group but serves complementary goals in ensuring Saar's artistic heritage remains accessible.
Remarkably, Saar continues to create new work as she approaches her centennial year. Having recently received a lifetime achievement award from Art Basel, she is preparing a new installation for Roberts Projects's Art Basel Miami Beach booth this December. "She just wants to spend her time making her art, and in her garden and with her family," Roberts noted. "She has transitioned her business to me and also her one daughter, Tracye."
The Legacy Group's mandate is intentionally flexible, designed to serve as a resource for anyone seeking to engage with Saar's work rather than imposing rigid interpretive frameworks. "It's more about being at the service of others," explained Cherix, who helped MoMA acquire dozens of prints by Saar before becoming the museum's director this year. "I very much like the idea of creating a group of people who each have a certain type of experience, who understand maybe a discipline or a period of her work. Together we can really function as a group, helping people to keep better understanding her work and making sure that it remains on view as much as possible."
Cherix, like other Legacy Group members, has spent considerable time with Saar and continues to visit with her whenever he's in Los Angeles. His participation in the group allows him to share the insights gained through these personal interactions with future scholars and curators. "If we can help people by sharing a little bit about our experience of working with Betye," he said, "that's a pleasure."
The formation of the Betye Saar Legacy Group represents an innovative approach to artistic legacy preservation, combining personal relationships, scholarly expertise, and institutional knowledge to create a living resource for understanding one of America's most important contemporary artists. As Saar approaches her 99th birthday, this initiative ensures that her revolutionary contributions to assemblage art and her powerful commentary on race, identity, and survival will continue to inform and inspire future generations of artists, scholars, and art lovers.
