Update: The Marciano Art Foundation unexpectedly and permanently closed in November 2019. Read the full story here.
When you hear the word “Freemason,” you probably think of a mystical, secret society with a broad scope of power that spans continents and generations. Or you may regard Freemasonry as more pellucid; a noble way for a man to enlighten himself, as the Hollywood Reporter described in 2017:
Statue of George Washington on the Scottish Rite Masonic Temple, with the Wilshire United Methodist Church in the background. Photo copyright 2019 by Anna Boudinot.
“An international fraternity that traces its roots to England three centuries ago and is inspired by medieval craft guilds — specifically stonemasons — Masons utilize an extensive system of ritual and symbolism, mostly centering on biblical stories... The idea is to spur what amounts to a continuing moral education through adulthood.”
Ritual? Symbolism? Stories? Hollywood is a natural fit for this kind of spectacle, and as such, the history of the motion picture industry is a who’s-who list of Masons. This includes studio heads Louis B. Mayer, Daryl Zanuck, and Cecil B. DeMille, as well as Glenn Ford, Douglas Fairbanks, and Clark Gable. If you’ve noticed that all of these names are male, you are correct: Regular Freemasonry bars cisgender women from membership, although some lodges allow transgender women to remain members if they joined before they transitioned.
Olafur Eliasson’s “Reality Projector,” photographed in 2018 by Anna Boudinot.
Millard Sheets was a California architect and artist who was famous for mosaics and paintings he created on corporate and public buildings in the 1950s. If you’ve marveled at the cinema superstars on the Chase Bank on Sunset and Vine, you’ve seen Sheets’ work – click here for some more examples. Around 1960, Sheets was approached by the Freemasons to build their new temple in Hancock Park. They wanted the architecture to pay homage to the religious inspiration and scientific methodology involved in the construction of history’s great temples and cathedrals.
In October 1961, Sheets completed the Scottish Rite Masonic Temple, a four-story, 100,000-square-foot building with nearly no windows. It contained an auditorium that seated 3000 men, a dining hall that seated 1500 men, and a 12,800-square-foot ballroom. (I’m not sure if the men danced with each other or if they let women inside for that.)
“With All My Love For The Tulips, I Pray Forever” by Yayoi Kusama. Photographed in 2018 by Anna Boudinot.
The most impressive elements of the building are on its exterior. Fourteen-foot travertine sculptures of famous builders are mounted on the temple’s façade. “I felt that Los Angeles didn't have anything like this and there should be something that people would look at with a little different view than a typical six-foot-tall fellow holding a Civil War sword in his hand on a pedestal in MacArthur Park,” Sheets said in a 1977 interview.
Despite the temple’s glory, the building was occupied by the Masons only until 1994, when a decline in membership made the mortgage unaffordable. It lay mostly vacant until the Maurice and Paul Marciano Art Foundation (MAF) bought it in 2013. The Marcianos made their fortune with the Guess clothing line and spent a great deal of money amassing art. Like the Broad, it’s not a museum, but a gallery for a private art collection, and critics are quick to point out that it lacks context and vision. An ArtNet article remarked
“The sometimes-overhung spaces read as a reflection of anxiousness to verify that the MAF is flush with [work from the trendiest contemporary artists] —the cultural equivalent of wrapping both forearms in Rolexes to ensure every wandering eyeball registers your status.”
The museum’s free admission also means it’s a massive tax write-off. The LA Times commented ruefully,
“Given how useful IRS rules make museums of this kind to their patrons’ bottom lines, it also seems fair to say that a temple built as a vessel for ingrown fraternal rituals has been stylishly redesigned to hold a collection of tax breaks.”
A cape from the Order of Malta in the Relic Room. Photo copyright 2019 by Anna Boudinot.
While these barbs may be deserved, the MAF houses some spectacular art and unusual relics that one would be hard-pressed to find anywhere else. The former auditorium, converted into a rugged space with exposed steel beams and forty-foot ceilings, is so vast that it’s the perfect location for large-scale art projects that would otherwise need an entire venue to themselves. In 2018, the room was completely overtaken by Olafur Eliasson’s “Reality Projector,” a hypnotic experience of light, color, and sound (watch a video here). In 2019, Karen O and Danger Mouse staged a multi-sensory experience there called “Lux Prima;” its music and visuals were meant to be experienced communally (i.e. in a huge, dark, room full of people).
Another attraction is the Relic Room, where documents, photographs, and Masonic curios are displayed in the former temple library. The most unusual items in the room are bright and glittery costumes, banners, and hats. These are left over from the Masons’ elaborate theatrical performances through which they enacted Scottish Rite rituals.
Hidden mosaic by Millard Sheets at the Marciano Art Foundation. Photographed in 2018 by Anna Boudinot.
The permanent collection at the MAF is nothing to write home about, although it’s fun to walk through “With All My Love For The Tulips, I Pray Forever” by Yayoi Kusama. I felt a visceral reaction when I wandered behind a hulking wall in the top-floor gallery and found a stunning Sheets mosaic that stretched several feet above my head. It was a charming nature scene filled with trees and woodland animals. Pops of shiny gold, lipstick red, kelly green, and royal blue tile punctuated the dark background. It was impossible to appreciate while craning my neck at what felt like a 270-degree angle. The work was clearly meant to be admired from across an expansive room, but the wall erected in front of it prevented that from happening. Should I feel grateful that I, a woman, was permitted to get a glimpse of vintage art inside a Masonic temple at all? I guess so.
Though admission to the MAF is free, tickets must be reserved on their website. Be sure to check out some of the other free art in Los Angeles, including the Broad, the Brand Library, and the California African American Museum.