Rozzell Sykes (December 25, 1931 – December 18, 1994) was an American artist, based in Los Angeles, California. He is best known as the founder of St. Elmo Village, an urban renewal project. [1]
Rozzell Sykes was born in Aberdeen, Mississippi, the son of Anna Bell Clay and Cleveland Sykes, although he gave various accounts of his origins over the years, frequently mentioning a childhood in the West Indies. [2] He lived in St. Louis, Missouri and San Diego, California before moving to Los Angeles in 1961. [3]
In the mid-1960s, Rozzell Sykes was a working painter, noted for a series featured in Life magazine. [4] [5] In 1969, he and his nephew Roderick Sykes acquired a small group of bungalows in mid-city Los Angeles, in the 4800 block of St. Elmo Drive where they lived, to save the dwellings and develop the neighborhood as a creative experiment. [6] [7] St. Elmo Village was incorporated in 1971, and showcased the Sykes' vision of a colorful, multi-ethnic cultural space. Rozzell Sykes executed several large murals for the community, and secured funding through the assistance of Tom Bradley, then a city councilman. "I don't think he allowed anything to go unpainted," said Bradley in 1995. "He was a man of uncommon vision. He often said it didn't matter whether you lived in a shoe box or a mansion, you can be all you want to be." [8] The neighborhood became the site of the annual St. Elmo Festival, organized by Rozzell Sykes to bring attention to the project and celebrate the arts. [9] [10]
Roderick and Rozzell Sykes received a Human Rights Award from the Baha'is of Los Angeles County in 1971, in observance of United Nations Human Rights Day, for their work in St. Elmo Village. [11] [12]
He was married to Erma Sykes, a nurse, and the couple raised five children together, [13] among them music producer Benny Medina. [14]
He died in late 1994, age 63. His funeral was held at First African Methodist Episcopal Church of Los Angeles. [15] [16] St. Elmo Village remains active as an arts space, under director Roderick Sykes. [17] [18]