There are many Masonic temples around the world that, in and of themselves, are works of art, from Zedekiah’s Cave in Israel to St. Peter’s Spiritual Temple—also known as the Voodoo Village—in Memphis. But only one has hosted artworks by the likes of Cindy Sherman, Takashi Murakami, and Glenn Ligon. That honor goes to the former Los Angeles Scottish Rite temple on Wilshire Boulevard—one of the most distinctive and artistically important Masonic landmarks in the country. Built in 1961, the temple has commanded significant attention from the art world since the Scottish Rite moved out in 1994. Most recently, Paul and Maurice Marciano, founders of the Guess jeans empire, transformed the complex into the Marciano Art Foundation, a privately-owned museum housing their 1,500-work contemporary art collection. Following a splashy opening in 2017, the museum abruptly closed in 2019.

The international art dealer Larry Gagosian recently set up shop in the space. Despite that spotlight, there’s one artist associated with the building who has largely been overlooked: Millard Sheets, the real-life Renaissance man who designed it and executed much of its artwork.

Though relatively few people know Sheets’s name today, many know his work. A prolific painter, muralist, and mosaicist of the early 1930s, Sheets was also an important—though never licensed—architectural designer. He is credited with more than 100 buildings, including 42 Home Savings Banks in California, many of which can still be seen. Bank founder Howard Ahmanson offered him the commission in 1953 with this challenge: “I want buildings that will be exciting 75 years from now.” For the Hollywood branch at Sunset and Vine, Sheets combined a 500-name mosaic Roll of Stars, an elaborate stained-glass window depicting the Marx Brothers and Keystone Kops, and a mural honoring the site as the filming location of the of the 1914 film The Squaw Man, the first Hollywood movie.