Marciano Art Foundation

The Marciano Art Foundation, formally the Maurice and Paul Marciano Art Foundation, is a non-profit arts organization located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Mid-Wilshire neighborhood of Los Angeles. Established by Maurice and Paul Marciano, the co-founders of the Guess apparel brand, the institution serves as an exhibition space for their private collection of over 1,500 works of postwar and contemporary art. The foundation opened to the public on May 25, 2017, offering free admission to highlight developments in contemporary art, particularly from the 1990s onward. Although the museum abruptly closed in late 2019 amid labor disputes, it subsequently reopened and continues to present rotating exhibitions drawn from the founders' holdings, requiring visitors to reserve timed-entry tickets in advance.

The Marciano brothers began acquiring contemporary art in the 1980s, initially focusing on established figures before shifting toward emerging artists and expanding their holdings significantly after 2010. Following a 2013 recommendation by artist Alex Israel, the foundation purchased a vacant former Scottish Rite Masonic Temple on Wilshire Boulevard for $8 million. The project was temporarily put on hold to avoid conflicts of interest when Maurice Marciano assumed the co-chairmanship of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. The foundation eventually opened on May 25, 2017, with the inaugural exhibition Unpacking: The Marciano Collection, organized by guest curator Philipp Kaiser, which displayed 114 works by 47 artists. The institution maintained limited public hours and a controlled, appointment-based entry system. On November 5, 2019, the foundation laid off its entire visitor services department, roughly 70 part-time employees, one day after they announced their intent to unionize. The following day, the foundation announced an indefinite closure, initially citing low attendance. In December 2019, the organization declared the closure permanent, though former employees filed complaints with the National Labor Relations Board alleging unfair labor practices. Despite the permanent closure declaration, the foundation later reopened to the public.

The foundation's holdings consist of over 1,500 works of postwar and contemporary art, with approximately 90 percent of the collection amassed since 2010. The collecting focus emphasizes art created from the 1990s forward, with deep holdings of individual artists that trace the evolution of their practices over time. The collection encompasses paintings, sculptures, photographs, videos, and installations, with a particular emphasis on large-scale and conceptual works. Rotating exhibitions are drawn primarily from these holdings, occasionally supplemented by commissioned site-specific installations.

The collection features works by a wide array of international and Los Angeles-based artists. Key figures represented include Yael Bartana, John Baldessari, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Barbara Kruger, Yayoi Kusama, Mike Kelley, Glenn Ligon, Mark Grotjahn, Wade Guyton, Alex Israel, Albert Oehlen, Takashi Murakami, Paul McCarthy, Seth Price, Charles Ray, Sterling Ruby, Cindy Sherman, Jim Shaw, Rudolf Stingel, Kaari Upson, Adrián Villar Rojas, Jonas Wood, and Christopher Wool. The foundation has also presented significant temporary and site-specific installations, such as Ai Weiwei's Life Cycle in the theater gallery from September 2018 to March 2019, Jim Shaw's The Wig Museum, a stairwell mural by Nicolas Party, and an installation by Kristen Wentrcek and Andrew Zebulon titled Quaternion that responds to the building's Masonic symbolism.

The foundation is housed in the former Scottish Rite Masonic Temple, a structure originally designed in 1961 by architect Millard Sheets. The Marcianos purchased the vacant property in 2013, and architect Kulapat Yantrasast of wHY Architecture and Design led the conversion of the 110,000-square-foot building into a contemporary exhibition space. The renovation preserved key architectural elements of the building's Masonic past, including original mosaics, gold-tiled water fountains, elevator doors emblazoned with bronze compasses, and the former 2,000-seat theater, which was transformed into a massive gallery with exposed structural traces of the raked seating on the concrete walls. The mezzanine level features a Relic Room in the former Masonic library, curated by Susan L. Aberth, which preserves the original dark wood cabinetry, a double-headed eagle stained glass window, and abandoned Masonic artifacts such as silk banners, theatrical costumes, and painted backdrops. A 5,000-square-foot sculpture garden by the entrance features works by artists including Oscar Tuazon, Danh Vo, and Thomas Houseago.