Watts | KCET
Watts
KL Featured Category
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Multi-disciplinary
Artbound
Stretching Out into the Community: Five Key Watts Artists Who Helped Shape American Art
Post date:Meet the core artists who were the vanguards of the West Coast edition of the Black Arts Movement: Betye Saar, Noah Purifoy, John Outterbridge and Jayne Cortez.
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Cultural Politics
Artbound
As If I was Carrying a Gun: Art and Surveillance in 1960s Watts
Post date:An arts movement emerged in ‘60s Watts. In response, federal and local law enforcement enacted counterinsurgency programs that infiltrated and co-opted Black arts and culture institutions and surveilled and targeted activists, artists and community member
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Visual Arts
Artbound
The Life, Death and Afterlife of '66 Signs of Neon'
Post date:"66 Signs of Neon" was an eye opening installation that traveled the country, but it was an unconventional art work. Noah Purifoy and art historians recount the beginnings of the seminal "66 Signs of Neon," its eventual demise and significance today.
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Multi-disciplinary
Artbound
Watts Towers Arts Center's Unusual View of Arts Education
Post date:Cultural leader Charmaine Jefferson parses the issues that led to under investment in Black communities and Noah Purifoy talks about the how arts education could be a way forward and the consequent role of Watts Towers Arts Center.
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Music
Southland Sessions
The Labor of Love Behind Watts’ Longest Running Drum and Jazz Festivals
Post date:The Watts Towers Day of the Drum and Simon Rodia Jazz Festivals have been bringing together cultures for generations.
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Watts
Southland Sessions
E11: Watts Towers Festivals (Preview)
Post date:Rosie Lee Hooks, director of the Watts Towers Arts Center Campus, hosts a look back at last year's Watts Towers Festivals. Watch highlights from this iconic annual event.
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Community Art
Artbound
Advocate Above All: Watts Towers Art Center's Rosie Lee Hooks
Post date:From performing with an ensemble to working at the Smithsonian to mentoring Watts youth (including a young Nipsey Hussle), WTAC's advocate has done it all and keeps fighting for her adopted neighborhood.
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Community Art
Artbound
A New Generation in Watts Takes Up the Mantle of Change and Justice Through the Arts
Post date:Today, a cadre of local activists and artists in Watts are using storytelling and human relationships to promote change, justice, equality and communal values.
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African-American History
Lost L.A.
S4 E6: Shindana Toy Company - Changing the American Doll Industry Preview
Post date:Shindana Toy Company left a lasting mark on the American doll industry by manufacturing ethnically correct black dolls.
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representation
Lost L.A.
In the Aftermath of the Watts Uprisings, This Incubator Helped Rebuild the Community
Post date:The traditional narrative of the Watts Uprisings suggest that businesses fled from the chaos, but the story of Operation Boostrap suggests a wholly different story. Through their work, Operation Boostrap uplifted the community.
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African American
Lost L.A.
Shindana Doll Dressmakers Show Nathan How to Sew
Post date:Host Nathan Masters visits Irie Vibes on South Normandy to speak with Doris "Momma" Tate Conner, Lynne Conner and Tuesday Conner, who all sewed Shindana doll clothes and tries his hand at sewing.
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African American
Lost L.A.
Operation Bootstrap: Empowering the African American Community through Entrepreneurship
Post date:On November 24, 1965, the Louis Smith and Robert Hall launched an organization called Operation Bootstrap. The organization emphasized the importance of black entrepreneurship and used its business initiatives to shift public perception of black identity.
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Music
Artbound
Passing the Magic: Horace Tapscott's Spiritual Jazz Music
Post date:Though Horace Tapscott died in 1999, his legacy of music and focus on community burn brighter than ever because of the rising popularity of contemporary jazz artists like Kamasi Washington.
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Watts rebellion
Broken Bread
8 Organizations That Attest to Watts’ Resilience and Legacy of Activism
Post date:A chaotic riot narrative may have plagued Watts for the last five decades, but these long-running organizations show the community’s deep and lasting legacy of political and cultural organizing.
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historic preservation
Lost L.A.
How the Watts Towers Escaped Demolition
Post date:In the late 1950s, the city of Los Angeles issued a condemnation order for the towers. Today, they're celebrated as a landmark work of art.
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south central los angeles
City Rising
The History of South Central Los Angeles and Its Struggle with Gentrification
Post date:Rising property values, no rent controls, Metro's expansion and the arrival of the Rams all contribute to the area's complex gentrification issues.
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urban
SoCal Connected
Construction Finally Starts on Jordan Downs Redevelopment Project
Post date:The city of Los Angeles begins construction on Jordan Downs project redevelopment
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Affordable Housing
SoCal Connected
Public Housing Promises in Watts
Post date:Watts is home to the largest concentration of public housing west of the Mississippi.
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Departures
Departures
Watts Waits: Anticipating the Future of Jordan Downs
Post date:Filmmaker Drew Bachrach captures the current climate of anticipation and frustration at Jordan Downs in his film, “Watts Waits.”
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Departures
Watts Waits: The Proposal to Rebuild Jordan Downs
Post date:Plans to turn Jordan Downs into a 119-acre mixed-income urban village has been declined twice.