Artist of the Day: Sabato Rodia

There is a community in South Los Angeles that you have probably never visited. It isn't on the map of the stars; there are no tony boutiques or hip outdoor cafes there; none that I'm aware of. 

Image from the Watts Riots

 This once predominantly African-American community is probably best known for its famous 1965 riot, which began when a Highway Patrol officer pulled over Marquette Frye. Tired of what the residents perceived as police harrassment, a crowd gathered and began throwing rocks. The police attempted to respond with force, but were met with equal determination by an angry community.

This all occured during a racial flashpoint in history, in the midst of the American Civil Rights movment.  The community was like a tinderbox and the arrest of Frye was the spark that set things ablaze. The confrontation grew so violently out of control that the National Guard was called in.

When the riot was over, 35 people were dead, including a fireman, a police officer and a sheriff's deputy. More than 1,000 people were injured and over 4,000 were arrested. Close to 600 buildings were left smouldering or in ashes and a bitter anger continued to simmer just below the tense and uneasy surface.

Devastating aftermath of the Watts Riots

A government commission investigated the 65 riots and identified high unemployement, poor schools and inferior living conditions as contributing factors to the riots. Few efforts were made however to address the problems or repair damages. Consequently, there was another riot almost 30 years later, also known as the Rodney King Uprising.

This is unfortunately Watts' most lasting legacy. Unfortunate because within this community is one of the most amazing examples of folk art in the United States - a collection of 17 interconnected structures, two of which are almost 100 feet high. The Watts Towers, as they are known, were the creation of a single man with little more than window washing equipment, a motely collection of discarded railroad tracks, pipes, rods and rebar, porcelain tiles and glass bottles.

Sabato Rodia

 Between 1921 and 1954 an eccentric Italian immigrant by the name of Sabato Rodia toiled in obscurity, bringing an inexplicable vision gradually into shape with no assistance or encourgement from anyone else. 

Born in Naples, Rodia came to the United States as a teenager to live with his brother in Pennsylvania. After his brother died in a mining accident, Rodia moved west and eventually settled in Watts. Except for the fact that, during the time he was building the towers, he preached as an evangelical minister in a Mexican tent-revival church, One might describe Rodia as a recluse.

Rodia's creations weren't well received by his neighbors and his artwork met with frequent vandalism. The bungalow where he lived was ultimately burned down. Sadly, the artist sold his property in 1955 and moved away, never to see his masterpiece again. It was eventually condemned by the City of Los Angeles.

Some arts patrons bought Rodia's property four years later for $3,000 in order to preserve the towers. When the City found out about their intentions, it attempted to demolish the towers before the transfer went through. but The Watts towers had already become famous and huge opposition arose from all over the world. 

The new owners, NicholasKing and William Cartwright, teamed up with the curator of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and area artists, and  activists to form the Committee for Simon Rodia's Towers in Watts. They ultimately negotiated with the city to spare the structures.

In 1975 the original Rodia property was deeded the site to the City of Los Angeles, which eventually deeded it to the State of California. It is now designated as a State Historic Park and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places as a National Historic Landmark.

The towers, which have survived both Watts riots, suffered minor damage in the Northridge Earthquate of 1994, but they were subsequently repaired and the site was reopened to the public in 2001.

In his later life, Rodia resided in Martinez, California, where he shunned repeated requests for interviews from artists, architects and journalists. He is said to have sworn never to return to his creation, saying that part of his life was over.

Rodia in his younger years

Refusing any material assistance or offers of kindness from admirers, Rodia spent his remaining hears in a run-down boarding house. He suffered a stroke and was admitted to a convelescent home where he died just weeks before the original Watts riots.