Online Companion: The Complete Student, Achieving Success in College and Beyond

Chapter 4: The Act of Creation

Case in Point: Simon Rodia

In south Los Angeles, in the community known as Watts that became notorious as the site of one of the worst race riots in our nation's history, stands a monument to one man's spirit, ingenuity, determination, and creativity. Simon Rodia, also known as Sabato "Sam" Rodia and "Don Simon" by his neighbors, single-handedly built a conglomeration of sculptural forms on a lot at 1765 107th Street that has become famous all over the world.

Rodia was born in 1879 in southern Italy and came to America when he was 12. He labored in coal mines in Pennsylvania and then, when he moved to California, he worked in rock quarries, as a logger, and in railroad camps. In 1921, he bought a humble house on a wedge-shaped plot of land in Watts. There Rodia dedicated himself to his life's work, building a masterpiece that he called "Nuestro Pueblo" (meaning "our town"). Nuestro Pueblo consists of nine sculptural forms made of steel that are covered with shards of ceramic, pottery, sea shells, and broken glass. The tallest of these edifices is nearly 100 feet high and contains the longest slender column of reinforced concrete in the world.

For 33 years, he worked solo on his towers, using only the simple tools of a tile-setter and a window washer's belt and buckle. The Towers of Simon Rodia have been named a National Historic Landmark and are listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. Beyond that, they are an internationally recognized symbol of how the creative spirit can thoroughly captivate a human being and benefit not only him, but the rest of the world as well.