Monday, February 7, 2011

The Watts Towers are in Trouble

The Watts Towers are one of America's most famous works of folk art, built by immigrant construction worker Sam Rodia in his spare time, from 1921 to 1954. I find them weirdly compelling, and I am told they are even more so in person.

The City of Los Angeles, which owns the site, has been maintaining the towers, but only in a fairly minimal way, and with their budget crisis they can longer afford even that. So they have handed over control of the towers to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, which is trying to raise $5 million for restoration. I hope they succeed.

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