On Oct. 2, 2025, just before San Francisco Ballet opened the Southern California premiere of Liam Scarlett’s “Frankenstein,” the Costa Mesa performing arts venue unveiled a striking new addition to its art collection: a larger-than-life sculpture of a ballerina taking her final bow, a bouquet of red roses clasped in her hands.
Titled “Curtain Call” and created by New York-based artist Karon Davis, the sculpture was previously installed along New York City’s High Line from December 2023 to November 2024. Thanks in large part to the efforts of the Segerstrom Center’s new vice president of programming and production, Limor Tomer, the piece has now found a home in Orange County for the next year.
“Curtain Call” sculpture by Karon Davis – Photo courtesy of Segerstrom Center for the Arts.
“This place is identified with big ballets and ballerinas, and [American Ballet Theatre] is our resident dance company,” said Limor Tomer, who joined the Segerstrom Center in January. “So it seemed to me like the most natural and organic and authentic and resonant piece.”
“This is where she belongs,” Davis said of her creation. “She was made for the theater.”
Artist Karon Davis with her sculpture “Curtain Call” – Photo by Derek Bahn courtesy of the Segerstrom Center for the Arts.
The daughter of a Broadway performer and a ballerina, Davis was immersed in the arts from a young age. After studying with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre and the USC School of Cinematic Arts, she was inspired to pursue a career in the visual arts by her late husband, painter Noah Davis, who died in 2015.
“Curtain Call” originated as part of Davis’ 2023 exhibition “Beauty Must Suffer,” which centers the life and labor of Black dancers. Davis modeled the sculpture on Miami City Ballet dancer Jasmine Perry, who at the time was the only Black ballerina at Los Angeles Ballet. For the High Line installation, Davis took a 3D scan of the original, life-size plaster cast of Perry and transformed it into a bronze sculpture standing nearly six and a half feet tall.
“Curtain Call” sculpture by Karon Davis – Photo by Derek Bahn courtesy of Segerstrom Center for the Arts.
“I’m a bit of a Frankenstein myself,” Davis said with a laugh. “When people come to my studio, they see the body parts hanging everywhere. That’s what I do. I take the body parts, and I create this character.”
Davis and Tomer first connected while the latter was running Live Arts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Earlier this year, they worked together on “The Resurrection of Osiris,” a live activation in the museum’s Performance Pyramid in the “Flight into Egypt” exhibition. Throughout her time at the MET, Tomer worked on putting the performing arts into art galleries — now, she’s doing the reverse.
(Lt) Artist Karon Davis – “Curtain Call” – (Rt) Limor Tomer, Vice President of Programming and Production – Photo by Derek Bahn courtesy of Segerstrom Center for the Arts.
“When I came here, pretty much the first thing I said was we need the ballerina. We need Karon’s ballerina here,” Tomer said, adding that Henry Segerstrom was passionate about uniting different art disciplines. “[The ballerina’s] holding the building together.”
But once the yearlong loan from Studio 94 is up, Tomer doesn’t want to just fill the space with another installation.
“I would much rather work with our beautiful colleagues across the way at the museum, and work with them to collaboratively activate all our spaces with performance and installation,” Tomer said. “So this was a special, specific case. It’s not about creating a portfolio of works of art. It’s about Karon specifically, and that work.”
“Curtain Call” by Karon Davis – Photo by Derek Bahn courtesy of Segerstrom Center for the Arts.
“Curtain Call” now resides on the second floor of Segerstrom Hall, where its description plaque is paired with braille and an accompanying audio experience, allowing every visitor to engage with the work in their own way.
“It’s one thing to see her in the gallery, to see her outside and actually interacting with people, and to have her in a performing arts space is a dream,” Davis said. “It’s where she belongs.”
To learn more about the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, please visit their website.
To learn more about Karon Davis and to see photos of her work, please visit her website.
Written by Lauren Harvey for LA Dance Chronicle.
Feature image: “Curtain Call” was part of a larger exhibit by Karon Davis titled “Beauty Must Suffer” – Photo courtesy of Segerstrom Center for the Arts.
