Artist Corner - Millard Sheets, 2024 Recap
2024 was quite the year of Millard Sheets mural spotting, mostly in SoCal where I live. Below, a recap of the murals seen (9 total). Most are located at former Home Savings and Loan bank buildings. Others can be seen at a museum, library and on a college campus.
January - The “Loyola Tapestry” (1966) at Loyola University of Los Angeles
In the foyer of the Edward T. Foley Communications Arts Center on the Loyola University of Los Angeles campus, you will find the Loyola Tapestry designed by Millard Sheets. In Sheets words, the tapestry “symbolizes the meaning and means of communication created by man.” Sheets is well-known for his bank tile mosaic murals. It was a treat to find his artwork, of a different medium, inside the Edward Durrell Stone new formalist building. For a detailed description of the tapestry, see a post dated Feb. 11, 2011 - “The Breadth of Communication in the Loyola Tapestry” by Adam Arenson. From the post, I learned “it took seven weavers (working an inch a day) two years and three months to create the tapestry, which is reputed to be the largest modern tapestry in the Americas and the third-largest in the world. Eighteen feet by thirty-four feet, it was hung in March 1966.”
March - “Pleasures Along the Beach” (1969), Hilbert Museum in Orange, CA
I excitedly stopped by the newly expanded Hilbert Museum by @johnstonmarklee in Orange, CA to view the 40-foot-long mosaic mural, “Pleasures Along the Beach” (1969), designed by Millard Sheets and studio. Originally on the Santa Monica Home Savings, the mural and other sculptures from the branch are now at their new space for all to appreciate. The “Millard Sheets: California Master” exhibit was of particular interest to me. 40 of his original paintings are on display. I was drawn to dome of the paintings influenced by his time in Hawaii. Perhaps the most celebrated of California 20th-century artists, Millard Sheets (1907-1989) could do it all: painter, muralist, mosaicist, designer and teacher.
April - “River of Knowledge” (1963) at the Detroit Public Library, Cass Street Branch
This was an exciting after the fact confirmation - my first glimpse of a Sheets mural outside SoCal on the mainland. I wish I had the time then to view the mural in more detail and also visit the inside of the library. Alas, time was short and the library not yet open on the Sunday I was in town.
The mosaic design was quite detailed and included literary quotations.
August - Two murals in the San Gabriel Valley
Chase Bank at 401 E. Valley Blvd in Alhambra, CA
I had some time to Millard Sheets mural spot before my main shopping errand in the San Gabriel Valley. The good people at the Las Tunas Chase Bank pointed me to this mural at the Alhambra Branch. This mural includes the initial SH in the lower left corner. It refers to artist Susan Hertel who worked in Sheets’ studio. Hertel was a student of Sheets's at Scripps and graduated in 1952. In the mid-fifties she went to work for him and stayed on for 30 years, as both an artist and administrator, taking over as president after Sheets retired. She was responsible for many of the stained glass pieces in the Home Savings buildings and was also "the primary designer of mosaics," working closely with Dennis O'Connor.
Chase Bank 8905 Las Tunas Dr. in Temple City,CA
Temple City is home to the Camellia Festival and the mural here reflects that. Embedded in the work is Denis O’Connor’s tile signature, a “CD” inside a circle. O’Connor was an English artist who went to work for Sheets in 1960. According to an article in Huntington Frontiers by Sheets expert Adam Arenson, Sheets had trouble finding someone patient and skilled enough to do the mosaic work he wanted, before he finally found O’Connor: “O’Connor and his assistants would spend weeks or months with the small, textured glass tiles, cutting them into the perfect shapes, mixing shades to give the illusion of depth, movement, or shadows, pasting them onto numbered sections of paper, and then carting them to the site.” With Hertel, he made about 80 Home Savings mosaics.
September - Two murals in Buena Park near Knott’s Berry Farm
Chase Bank (formerly Home Savings) 7964 Beach Blvd.
The current Chase Bank has a tile mosaic mural on the outside and a tapestry by the Sheets Studio above the doorway inside. Embedded in the mural outside is Denis O’Connor’s tile signature, a “CD” inside a circle and Susan Hertel’s “SH” too.
The Broken Yolk (formerly Home Savings) 8010 Beach Blvd
This mural stands out for its black background and the fact the building is no longer a bank but a restaurant. It’s located in close proximity to the Chase Bank described above. In fact, the two buildings are directly across from each other.
Nov 22 - “Panorama of the Valley” (1956), painted by Millard Sheets and Susan Hertel (Lautmann)
Pomona First Federal Bank commissioned Millard Sheets, a proud Pomona Valley native, to paint a 77 foot mural. Given free choice of his subject for the project, Sheets decided to portray the history of the valley, illustrating the native people of the region in scenes from the 18th century through the founding of the City of Pomona in 1888. The artists’ signatures are visible at the lower right of the mural beneath the Victorian ladies.
December - A formerly hidden bank mural in Long Beach
How fun to find this mosaic on the International City Bank lobby facade. It had been covered in white and kept from the eyes of the public for years. Designed in 1979, covered over in 1998, the mosaic was unveiled to the public in 2018.
Similar to the AMOCA painting mentioned above, the artists’ initials are visible at the lower right of the mural beneath the Victorian ladies.
From an article found in the LB Post:
Soon after Rockwell Properties acquired the International City Bank building at 249 E. Ocean Blvd. about six months ago, the company found the mosaic mural with help from a longtime fan of the work who already knew of its existence.
Alan Burks, president of Long Beach-based Environ Architecture, the tenant improvement architects for the building, and chair of the city’s Cultural Heritage Commission, said that the previous owners of the building weren’t interested in uncovering the mural. But when Burks approached Rockwell Properties about it, they were enthusiastic about restoring the artwork.