12 Facts About Noah Purifoy

Noah Purifoy lived and worked most of his life in Los Angeles and Joshua Tree, California.

Noah Purifoy is best known for his assemblage sculpture, including a body of work made from charred debris and wreckage collected after the Watts Riots of August 1965.

Noah Purifoy was born in 1917 in Snow Hill, Alabama, as one of thirteen siblings.

Noah Purifoy lived and worked most of his life in Los Angeles and Joshua Tree, California, where he died in 2004.

Noah Purifoy received an undergraduate degree from Alabama State Teachers College in 1943 and a graduate degree in social services administration from Atlanta University in 1948.

In 1953, Noah Purifoy enrolled to attend the Chouinard Art Institute.

Noah Purifoy was the first African American to enroll there as a full-time student and earned his BFA in 1956, just before his fortieth birthday.

For 20 years following the uprising, Noah Purifoy dedicated himself to the found object, and to using art as a tool for social change.

Noah Purifoy was cofounder of the Watts Towers Art Center, adjacent to Simon Rodia's landmark Watts Towers in Watts, Los Angeles, California.

Noah Purifoy was on the California Arts Council from the late 1970s through late 1980s, initiating programs such as Artists in Social Institutions, bringing art into the state prison system.

Noah Purifoy then moved to the southern Mojave Desert to create artworks.

The museum is open to the public and is maintained and preserved by the Noah Purifoy Foundation, established in 1998.