The Watts Towers

Los Angeles, CA

In 1965, Calvin Trillin wrote in the New Yorker that Italian immigrant Simon Rodia "constructed a dream-like complex of openwork towers . . . and encrusted them with a sparkling mosaic, composed mainly of what had once been refuse." Rodia’s Watts’ Towers are testament to the American immigrant artist's power to claim value and beauty in a found world. His spirit continues to inspire and transform those who experience his towers first hand. That the outsider artist’s towers are now the focus of major insider art LACMA’s restoration attentions makes them all the more worthy a Studio 360 American Icon.

Nancy