In Pursuit of an Impact: Local Outreach and Investment in the Context of the Watts Towers Conservation Project

The Watts Towers, a US National Historic Landmark in Los Angeles, are a work of art created by Italian immigrant Sabato (also known as Simon) Rodia (1879–1965) between 1921 and 1954. Since 2011 the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has worked to formulate a preservation and maintenance protocol for the Towers and has provided daily preservation maintenance. The Towers hold important value for Watts, a neighborhood that faces significant economic and social challenges. Responding to the project’s context, LACMA pursued a local hiring policy and implemented a training program for local high school students. Challenges encountered in the development of an outreach program and ideas for future preservation-related outreach and local investment are discussed in this paper.