Q&A with Artist Alison Saar about Her Connection to Watts Towers

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Alison Saar, a sculptor who is a native Angeleno, over tea and coffee at Ray’s on LACMA’s campus. I wanted to ask her about the lifelong relationship she has had with the Watts Towers. She comes from a family immersed in art: Her mother, Betye Saar, is also an artist and her father, Richard Saar, was an art conservator. The family’s connection with the Towers began with her maternal great-grandmother, a resident of Watts, and continued with her mother, who saw Simon Rodia’s work in progress, before being passed along to Alison and even now to Alison’s children.

After discussing LACMA’s Watts Towers conservation efforts, we got around to talking about Alison’s connection to the Towers.

Lucas Casso: Could you tell me a little about your first memories of the Watts Towers?

Alison Saar: Well, actually, one of my first memories of…