Artist. He designed and built the famous Watts Towers in Los Angeles. The Watts Tower is a collection of 17 interconnected sculptural towers, architectural structures, and individual sculptural features and mosaics. In 1921, Simon Rodia bought a wedge-shaped lot at 1765 E. 107th Street in the Watts area of Los Angeles, California. Like many Italian immigrants, Rodia was a construction worker by trade. For the next thirty three years, Rodia used every spare minute he had building the now-famous Watts Towers which are recognized internationally as brilliant examples of folk art. Using discarded materials from his day job, bits of broken glass and pottery gathered by neighborhood children, and seashells collected from nearby beaches. Rodia, working alone and without the aid of machine equipment, built what he said was a tribute to his adopted country: "I had in mind to do something big and I did it...you have to be good-good or bad-bad to be remembered." In 1955, Rodia, nearing the age of 80, moved to the northern California town of Martinez to live with his extended family. He deeded the Watts property to a neighbor, and had nothing more to do with his masterpiece. The towers still stand today as a monument to one man's self-taught engineering genius and unique artist vision. Today, the Watts Towers is a state park, were designated a National Historic Landmark, and a California Historical Landmark in 1990. They are also a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument, and one of nine folk art sites listed in the National Register of Historic Places in Los Angeles.
Artist. He designed and built the famous Watts Towers in Los Angeles. The Watts Tower is a collection of 17 interconnected sculptural towers, architectural structures, and individual sculptural features and mosaics. In 1921, Simon Rodia bought a wedge-shaped lot at 1765 E. 107th Street in the Watts area of Los Angeles, California. Like many Italian immigrants, Rodia was a construction worker by trade. For the next thirty three years, Rodia used every spare minute he had building the now-famous Watts Towers which are recognized internationally as brilliant examples of folk art. Using discarded materials from his day job, bits of broken glass and pottery gathered by neighborhood children, and seashells collected from nearby beaches. Rodia, working alone and without the aid of machine equipment, built what he said was a tribute to his adopted country: "I had in mind to do something big and I did it...you have to be good-good or bad-bad to be remembered." In 1955, Rodia, nearing the age of 80, moved to the northern California town of Martinez to live with his extended family. He deeded the Watts property to a neighbor, and had nothing more to do with his masterpiece. The towers still stand today as a monument to one man's self-taught engineering genius and unique artist vision. Today, the Watts Towers is a state park, were designated a National Historic Landmark, and a California Historical Landmark in 1990. They are also a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument, and one of nine folk art sites listed in the National Register of Historic Places in Los Angeles.
Bio by: Joe Costa
Family Members
Children
Advertisement
