9780823257966 (cloth : alk. paper)

0823257967 (cloth : alk. paper)

9780823257973 (paper : alk. paper)

0823257975 (paper : alk. paper)

Critical studies in Italian America

Introduction: Sabato Rodia's Towers in Watts and the search for common ground / Luisa Del Giudice

Part I: Situating Sabato Rodia and the Watts Towers : art movements, cultural contexts, and migrations. Local art, global issues : tales of survival and demise among contemporary art environments / Jo Farb Hernandez ; Everybody knows this is nowhere : structure and performance in Rodia's Watts Towers / Guglielmo Bilancioni ; Sam Rodia's Watts Towers in six sections in succession / Paul A. Harris ; Without precedent : the Watts Towers / Thomas Harrison ; An era of grand ambitions : Sam Rodia and California modernism / Richard Cándida Smith ; A California detour on the road to Italy : the Hubcap Ranch, the Napa Valley, and Italian American identity / Laura E. Ruberto ; The Gigli of Nola during Rodia's times / Felice Ceparano ; The literary and immigrant contexts of Simon Rodia's Watts Towers / Kenneth Scambray ; Sabato Rodia's Towers in Watts : art, migration, and Italian imaginaries / Luisa Del Giudice ; "Why a man makes the shoes?" : Italian American art and philosophy in Sabato Rodia's Watts Towers / Joseph Sciorra ; Parallel expressions : artistic contributions of Italian immigrants in the Rio de la Plata Basin of South America at the time of Simon Rodia / George Epolito

Part II: The Watts Towers contested : conservation, guardianship, and cultural heritage. Fifty years of guardianship : the Committee for Simon Rodia's Towers in Watts (CSRTW) / Jeanne S. Morgan ; A custody case : ownership of Rodia's Towers / Jeffrey Herr ; Nuestro Pueblo : the spatial and cultural politics of Los Angeles's Watts Towers / Sarah Schrank ; Reading the Watts Towers, teaching Los Angeles : storytelling and public art / Monica Barra ; Spires and towers between tangible, intangible, and contested transnational cultural heritage / Katia Ballacchino

Part III: The Watts Towers and community development. Artists in conversation : R. Judson Powell, John Outterbridge, Charles Dickson, Betye Saar, Kenzi Shiokava, Augustine Aguirre, Artist's Panel moderated by Rosie Lee Hooks (Saturday, October 23, 2010,121 Dodd Hall, UCLA) ; Building community through self-awareness and self-expression / Gail Brown ; Simon Rodia's Watts Towers : sociopolitical realities, economic underdevelopment, and renaissance: yesterday and today / Shirmel Hayden ; Afterword: Personal reflections on the Watts Towers Common Ground Initiative / Luisa Del Giudice

Appendices. A. Conversations with Rodia, 1953-1964. Interview of S. Rodia, with William Hale and Ray Wisniewsky, Watts, 1953 ; Interview with Simon Rodia, by William Hale and Ray Wisniewsky, "At the Towers site, standing outside Rodia's house," 1953 ; Conversation with Sam Rodia, by Mae Babitz and Jeanne Morgan, Martinez, California, September, 1960 ; Interviews, Part A, B, with S. Rodia, by Ed Farrell, Jody Farrell, Bud Goldstone, and Seymour Rosen, Martinez; and University of California, Berkeley ; Report on visits to Simon Rodia, made to CSRTW, from Jody Farrell (Bud Goldstone, Seymour Rosen, Ed Farrell and Jody Farrell), Martinez and Berkeley, California, October 17, 1961; and San Francisco Museum of Art, October 19, 1961 ; Letter to the CSRTW, by Claudio Segre [Segrè], Re: Visit with Rodia in Martinez, California, January 25, 1962 ; "New Yorker reporter visits Rodia," report to the CSRTW, Re: Interview with Simon Rodia and relatives, by Calvin Trillin, Nicholas King, Jeanne Morgan, and Beniamino Bufano, Martinez, California, August 30, 1964 ; Conversations with Rodia, report by Jeanne Morgan, Re: Visits in Martinez, California, May 20, June 15, July 5, August 10, September 10, 1964, and comments on New Yorker visit of August 30, 1964 ; Last conversation with Sam Rodia, report by Jeanne Morgan, Re: Visit in Martinez, California, December 22, 1964 ; Interviews with S. Rodia, by Norma Ashley-David, Martinez, California, March [1964?] ; Interview (excerpts) with Rodia's neighbors, by Bud Goldstone, Long Beach, California, 1963 ; Interview with S. Rodia, by Nicholas King, Martinez, California, September, 1960

B. CSRTW campaign to save the Watts Towers (Online Appendix). Nancie Cavanna song lyrics, "Please don't tear down the Towers" ; Campaigns to save the Watts Towers : correspondence ; Miscellaneous documents ; Miscellaneous digitized documents

C. In their own words : interviews with Luisa Del Giudice, 2009 (Online Appendix). Jeanne S. Morgan, Former Chair of the CSRTW ; Interview with Brad Byer, I build the Tower filmmaker and S. Rodia's great-nephew ; Edward Landler, I build the Tower filmmaker ; Rosie Lee Hooks, Watts Towers Arts Center Director

D. Conference and festival programs and illustrations (Online Appendix). University of Genova Conference poster, 2009 ; University of Genova Conference program, 2009 ; Watts Towers Common Ground Initiative : art, migrations, development, UCLA Conference poster, 2010 ; Watts Towers Common Ground Initiative : art, migrations, development, UCLA Conference program, 2010 ; Watts Towers Common Ground Initiative : Art, Migrations, Development, Festival poster, 2010-11 ; Watts Towers Common Ground Initiative : Art, Migrations, Development, Festival illustrations ; Watts in Italy, Summer 2011, illustrations.

Rodia, Simon, 1879-1965 > Criticism and interpretation.

Rodia, Simon, 1879-1965 > Interviews.

Cultural property > Protection > California > Los Angeles.

Cultural property > Italy.

Watts (Los Angeles, Calif.) > Buildings, structures, etc.

Los Angeles (Calif.) > Buildings, structures, etc.