WATTS TOWERS ARTS CENTER CAMPUS
Watts Towers Recognized by World Monuments Fund
Watts Towers recognized among ten heritage places that have shaped the nation's unique history on the occasion of the
250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence
Los Angeles, CA - June 30, 2026
City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs is proud to announce that Watts Towers had been named to Irreplaceable America, a new list from World Monuments Fund (WMF) recognizing 10 historic places across the United States whose preservation is essential to the richness and complexity of American history as the nation approaches the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. From landmarks of public health and colonial architecture to sites central to Black history, Indigenous heritage, and artistic experimentation, the initiative spotlights places facing urgent preservation needs.
The Watts Towers are an internationally significant work of monumental folk art...
...created by Italian immigrant Sabato "Simon" Rodia. Rodia purchased a triangular lot in Watts, South Central Los Angeles in 1921 and spent more than three decades building 17 structures entirely by hand, using reinforced-concrete, tile, and found objects inlaid with hand-placed mosaics, including the towers that reach nearly 100 feet in height.
The site, anchored by the Watts Towers Arts Center, the Charles Mingus Youth Arts Charles Mingus Youth Arts Center, and the Garden Studio Gallery, is a long-standing community hub that offers arts education, youth programming, and public events including the Annual Watts Towers Day of the Drum Festival and the Simon Rodia Watts Towers Jazz Festival, which are among the oldest and most important cultural gatherings in South Central Los Angeles.
The site faces ongoing environmental and structural threats, including seismic activity, climate exposure, and material deterioration, compounded by limited funding for the full implementation of the site's preservation plan.
"The Watts Towers are a monumental achievement by one individual...
...Simon Rodia, yet are of cultural significance and meaning to all of the local community, and its visitors. The conversation and preservation of the Watts Towers - which is also home to the Watts Towers Arts Center Campus - reinforces a message to the community of investment, value, and stewardship, while also supporting increased cultural tourism and generating economic opportunities that benefit both the immediate Watts community and the wider region." Said Daniel Tarica, General Manager of the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.
"The United States was built by people from every corner of the globe, shaped by Indigenous nations, early settlers, immigrant communities, and generations of cultural exchange," said Bénédicte de Montlaur, President and CEO of World Monuments Fund. "That complexity gave rise to some of America's most enduring contributions, from colonial heritage to jazz and hip-hop and the Wright brothers' invention of powered flight. After decades of work at more than 700 sites, 112 countries, WMF has seen what communities gain when they can protect the places that matter and what is lost when they cannot. As the nation approaches its 250th anniversary, Irreplaceable America is a call to protect the places that reflect the richness of the history, and the role heritage plays in education, community memory, and civic life."
The Watts Towers appears on the lost alongside nine other places...
...reflecting both the breadth of American history and the range of preservation challenges that many historic sites face. The full 2026 Irreplaceable America list is: New York Smallpox Hospital Ruin, New York; Bartram's Garden, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Black Mountain College Studies Building, North Carolina; African Meeting House, Boston, Massachusetts; City of New Orleans, Louisiana; Colonial Homes of Newport, Rhode Island; Dallas City Hall, Texas; Mission Churches of Acoma and Laguna Pueblos, New Mexico; Watts Towers, Los Angeles, California; and the Wright Brothers Sites in Dayton, Ohio. In addition, WMF and the external jury extended a special recognition to the National Park Service in support of the institution's central role in shaping preservation standards and stewarding more than 430 sites across the United States.
The nationwide open call for nominations resulted in 75 submissions...
...which underwent a structured internal review and were then evaluated by an independent expert panel. Nominations were assessed based on cultural significance, urgency of conversation needs, and the potential community benefit of preservation. The panel included Charles A. Birnbaum, President and CEO of the Cultural Landscape Foundation; Charles L. Davis II, Associate Professor of Architectural History and Criticism and Program Director of the architecture PhD program at the University of Texas at Austin; Paul Goldberger, American author and architecture critic; Anthea M. Hartig, Elizabeth MacMillan Director for North America at World Monuments Fund; and Francisco Uviña‐Contreras, Professor of Architecture and Planning and Director of the historic preservation and regionalism graduate certificate program at the University of New Mexico.
World Monuments Fund will be launching a conservation project at Watts Towers Arts Center Campus with the generous support of GRoW @ Annenberg Foundation.
For more information about Irreplaceable America, visit wmf.org.
To learn more about Watts Towers, visit culture.lacity.gov/cultural-centers/watts-towers-campus.