$15,000 toward the conservation and preservation of the artist’s work as well as for the archival treatment of his papers, overseen by foundation president Joseph S. Lewis, III. Originally from rural Alabama, Purifoy served as both a founding member of the Watts Towers Arts Center and the California Arts Council before moving to Joshua Tree, CA, to create an outdoor sculpture site. His interest in the relationship between art, self, and community are reflected in his large assemblage sculptures that include such everyday objects as toilet bowls, bicycle wheels, and old refrigerators.