A landmark building on Wilshire Boulevard, built as a Masonic Temple, has become Los Angeles’ newest museum of contemporary art, housing the collections of the Marciano Art Foundation as well as special exhibitions.
The Foundation focuses on art from the 1990s to today, including painting, photography, sculpture and film. The huge spaces feature 1500 works by 200 artists. The site’s past is noted also: There’s a room given over to artifacts of Freemasonry.
The Scottish Rite Masonic Temple is special in itself: It’s the work of painter/architect Millard Sheets, whose work dots the state and gallery walls as well. It was built in 1961, but since the early 1990s it has been vacant. It was purchased in 2013 by the Marciano brothers, whose money comes from their GUESS? Jeans company.
The reconfigured building includes a 2,000-seat auditorium, restaurant and 55,000 square feet of exhibition space. Admission is free, but tickets must be reserved online in advance at the Foundation’s website.
