This is my final report on my trip to Los Angeles. On Sunday after we went to
the Getty and to
Venice Beach, my host and I made our way to Watts. When we were planning my visit and G suggested we go see the Watts Towers, I thought he was kidding. I didn't even really know what they were - I assumed they were tenements, to be honest, since my only awareness of them was that they had something to do with the
Watts riots (about which I knew little to nothing).
Well, that shows you what I know. Watts is an
entire neighborhood in LA, and yes, it's had a reputation and a hard history over the years. However the towers are NOT a housing development - they're art, created over thirty-plus years by a man who lived in the neighborhood.
Simon Rodia used found objects to decorate the structures, and they've cleverly found a way to identify where the bits belong - so when they fall out, they can be replaced correctly.
The Watts Towers are now a state park. We weren't there at the right time for a tour but I would absolutely go back!
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