Finally complete, the Watts Towers’ restoration is a turning point for public art in Los Angeles

2022-12-06T18:17:00-05:00

One of Los Angeles’ most significant cultural landmarks, Simon Rodia’s monumental Watts Towers sculpture, finally re-opened last month after a five-year multimillion-dollar restoration effort spearheaded by LACMA.

The project was overseen by the museum’s Senior Conservation Scientist Dr. Frank Preusser, Art Conservator Elisabetta Covizzi, and other staffers whose focus fell mainly on repairing the aging concrete and makeshift armature of the 100-year-old towers in addition to cleaning, stabilizing, and reattaching its many thousands of vulnerable ornamental elements.

Image of Elisabetta Covizzi working on Rodia's sculptural canopy at Watts Towers. Taken May 4, 2022, by Sara Chao. Image via Covizzi's Instagram ©master_conservation.

The complex had been standing largely unaltered since a previous late-90s restoration aimed at seismic upgrades was completed in 2001. A decade later, LACMA began organizing a City Hall-backed effort that identified critical areas of need with help from t...

The Watts Towers, Sturdy Survivors

2011-05-24T21:46:03-04:00

"These people have been the stewards of Watts Towers all these years and have a tremendous sense of ownership to them. So while superstars like Walt Disney may be thought of as the consummate 20th-century Los Angeles hero, for those living on 107th Street and nearby, it's Simon Rodia."

One of my favorite cultural landmarks of Los Angeles, Watts Towers, goes on yet another restoration. Still, we need more Angelinos to visit the Towers.

"Now the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the city's Department of Cultural Affairs are working on a plan to restore Rodia's sculpture and, in so doing, to get Angelenos more interested in the landmark. Most visitors to the towers are now from outside the city—often from overseas, like their creator himself."

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Finally complete, the Watts Towers’ restoration is a turning point for public art in Los Angeles

The Watts Towers, Sturdy Survivors