The art, the joy, the keeper: The hidden work behind Niki de Saint Phalle's beloved mosaic sculptures

The bold, joyful sculptures of Niki de Saint Phalle are woven into San Diego’s landscape, even if many people don’t know her name. In this episode, we explore the life and legacy of the artist behind Queen Califia’s Magical Circle, the Sun God at UC San Diego and the beloved Nikigator in Balboa Park. After decades of boundary-breaking art and personal hardship, Niki came to San Diego late in life and created monumental public works designed to be experienced up close, inviting touch, play and imagination. But this story also belongs to Lech Juretko, a Polish refugee and former wallpaper installer who became Niki’s longtime assistant. He helped build her massive mosaic sculptures piece by piece. More than 20 years after her death, he is still repairing cracked tiles and replacing missing stones, preserving artwork created for interaction and shared wonder. It’s a story about creative devotion, chosen family and the magic that happens when art leaves museum walls and becomes part of everyday life.Guests:Lech Juretko, founder and owner of Art Mosaic, longtime assistant of artist Niki de Saint PhalleJill Dawsey, PhD, senior curator at Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, co-author of "Niki de Saint Phalle in the 1960s" Sources:Niki de Saint Phalle: Public Works (Niki Charitable Art Foundation)Niki de Saint Phalle Garden Opens in Escondido (City of Escondido, 2003)Keeping up the legacy of Niki de Saint Phalle (Julia Dixon Evans, KPBS, 2023)Artist Niki de Saint Phalle's radical decade (Julia Dixon Evans, KPBS, 2022)The Darkness Behind Niki de Saint Phalle's Colorful Beauties (Eunice Lipton, Hyperallergic, 2015)"What Is Now Known Was Once Only Imagined: An (Auto)biography of Niki de Saint Phalle" (Nicole Rudick, Siglio Press, 2022)"Niki de Saint Phalle in the 1960s" (Jill Dawsey and Michelle White, Yale University Press, 2021)"Niki Who Tamed The Dragons" (Wojciech Delikta, Contemporary Lynx, 2020)New Realism (Center Pompidou, La Collection, Musee national d'art moderne, Pompidou Centre, Paris, 1987, and La Collection, Acquisitions, 1986-1996, Pompidou Centre, Paris, 1996)"My Terrific Mother" (Laura Gabriela, Tate Etc., Tate Modern, 2008)"Niki in the Garden" (Atlanta Botanical Garden, 2026)"Pop Gun Art: Niki de Saint Phalle and the Operatic Multiple" (Nichole L. Woods, Walker Art Center, Walker Living Collections Catalogue)"At MoMA PS1: Niki de Saint Phalle" (Lidija Haas, London Review of Books, 2021)Jean Tinguely, Playful Sculptor of Scrap Contraptions, Dies at 66 (New York Times, 1991)Niki de Saint Phalle: Le Cimetière de Montparnasse (Devon Whitehead, The Brooklyn Rail, 2018) Niki de Saint Phalle's lifelong dialogue between art and diseases (Henning Zeidler, Joint Bone Spine, National Library of Medicine, 2012)Niki de Saint Phalle, Sculptor, Is Dead at 71 (Ken Johnson, New York Times, 2002)Vandals break in, smash mirrors and more in Escondido sculpture garden (Teri Figueroa, San Diego Union Tribune, 2018)The Keeper of Niki de Saint Phalle's Menagerie (Mingei International Museum, 2019)"Nikigator, 2001" (Mingei International Museum, collections)