Watts Towers / Nuestro Pueblo (Part 2)

PART 2: RODIA'S PUEBLO

By Public Art in Public Places

Public Art in Public Places

Watts Towers / Nuestro Pueblo (title, place name) (1921/1954) by Sabato (Simon) RodiaPublic Art in Public Places

Nuestro Pueblo

The common name of Watts Towers is an unfortunate misnomer from early 1950s efforts to identify the visible towers, with no reference to the eclectic splendor of artwork at their base or to the proper name in mosaic tile.  Rodia chose the term "Nuestro Pueblo" - Spanish for "Our Village" or "Our Place" - to describe his work and the place he created, and to welcome informal gatherings and even wedding ceremonies. 

Watts Towers (entrance) (1921/1954) by Sabato (Simon) RodiaPublic Art in Public Places

Always Open

Unlike the roofed entrance to Rodia's front door, the Nuestro Pueblo entrance leads to seating areas, the gazebo, ceremonial steps, and individual sculptural features.  Rodia inscribed his starting dates (1921, 1923) but no completion dates, suggesting that he considered "Nuestro Pueblo" his lifelong endeavor.

Watts Towers / Nuestro Pueblo (pueblo entrance) (1921/1954) by Sabato (Simon) RodiaPublic Art in Public Places

Watts Towers (gazebo entrance) (1921/1954) by Sabato (Simon) RodiaPublic Art in Public Places

The Gazebo

The social focal point of Nuestro Pueblo is the 30-foot diameter gazebo.  Its arched entrance welcomes visitors with Rodia's signature heart image, and the circular seating surrounds a center sculpture.  Adjacent to the gazebo is an outdoor fireplace for heating.

Watts Towers / Nuestro Pueblo (gazebo) (1921/1954) by Sabato (Simon) RodiaPublic Art in Public Places

Sculptural spire at the center of the gazebo

Watts Towers (gazebo entrance) (1921/1954) by Sabato (Simon) RodiaPublic Art in Public Places

Circular seating inside the gazebo structure

Rodia's heart images are found throughout the site.

Watts Towers (outdoor fireplace/heater) (1921/1954) by Sabato (Simon) RodiaPublic Art in Public Places

Adjacent to the gazebo is this outdoor fireplace/heater with 14-foot high chimney. Its high temperatures may explain the notable lack of exterior mosaic ornament.

Watts Towers / Nuestro Pueblo (ceremonial steps) (1921/1954) by Sabato (Simon) RodiaPublic Art in Public Places

Wedding Ceremonies

Rodia both designed and "programmed" the site for weddings. Couples would enter Nuestro Pueblo through separate doors on the north side of the site and make their way to the ceremonial wedding steps and platform (shown at right).  They would then descend and exit together through the single Nuestro Pueblo archway to the street, symbolically reflecting the beginning of their new life together.

Watts Towers / Nuestro Pueblo (Wedding Cake Fountain) (1921/1954) by Sabato (Simon) RodiaPublic Art in Public Places

Rodia's Wedding Cake sculpture and fountain was designed with water cascading down the tiers and draining to the street.

This close-up view shows the variety of ceramic and pottery fragments.

Watts Towers / Nuestro Pueblo (1921/1954) by Sabato (Simon) RodiaPublic Art in Public Places

The Work of a Lifetime

By 1954 Rodia was 75 years old and facing municipal permit requirements, periodic vandalism, and fatigue.  Selling the property to a neighbor, he left Nuestro Pueblo and moved hundreds of miles away long before the successful stress tests on the towers in 1959.

Watts Towers / Nuestro Pueblo (house entrance) (1921/1954) by Sabato (Simon) RodiaPublic Art in Public Places

As the artist signing his masterpiece, Rodia placed his initials throughout the site.

Rodia's initials "S" and "R" are shown here in blue and purple tile on both sides of the mosaic panel above his house entrance.

Watts Towers / Nuestro Pueblo (tower detail) (1921-1954) by Sabato (Simon) RodiaPublic Art in Public Places

Rodia's Legacy

Rodia died ten years later, and it is not known whether he ever returned to Nuestro Pueblo.  The spirit of his work, however, has infused the Watts community with an enduring appreciation of his achievement, of the arts, and of local culture.  

The Magic Wall (circa 2007) by Patricia Riske and art studentsPublic Art in Public Places

These two mosaic panels at the entrance to the nearby Watts Towers Arts Center were created by the Center's artists and students in tribute to Rodia, incorporating pieces fallen from Nuestro Pueblo structures.

Watts Towers / Nuestro Pueblo (neighborhood art) (2007) by Augustine Aguirre, Jose Garcia, and Watts Towers Arts CenterPublic Art in Public Places

Nearby neighbors also pay tribute to Rodia's mosaic work with sidewalk-facing mosaics sponsored by Watts Towers Arts Center artists.

Watts Towers (heart image) (1921/1954) by Sabato (Simon) RodiaPublic Art in Public Places

Coda:

The Watts Towers have received the distinction they deserve: they are Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Monument #15 (1963), are listed on the National Register of Historic Places (1977), are designated a National Historic Landmark (1990), and are encompassed by the Watts Towers of Simon Rodia State Historic Park.  Rodia himself received popular acclaim with two documentary films and numerous radio, television and music tributes. Notably, he was included in the group of on-lookers on the Beatles' famous 1967 Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover, which is oddly fitting, considering that the only design image consistently repeated throughout the site -- on tower sails, archways, spires, and countless mosaics -- is Rodia's heart.  

Credits: Story

This online exhibition is a product of Public Art in Public Places.

All images and videos, except where specifically attributed, are copyrighted and are the exclusive property of Public Art in Public Places Project.

All rights reserved.
Public Art in Public Places Project 2018

Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.
Explore more
Related theme
Street Art
Discover the history, location and creators of street art.
View theme
Google apps