The Brief

Southern California sometimes feels like a small town — its streets, blocks, neighborhoods blurring into one another from familiarity. But step outside your usual radius and you can land in what feels like an entirely different world.

That was me in Claremont, seeing a new eye doctor whose office played a surprisingly important role in Southern California art history.

That morning, my 30-mile drive on the 10 Freeway felt like ellipses of strip malls, bigger strip malls and even bigger strip malls.

Until I got to Claremont Eye Associates — two buildings, one used for file storage off the multilane Foothill Boulevard.

Behind a dense garden of cacti and California native plants, a bird cage once sat, I would later find out, so that artists could practice sketching the birds.

One of the mosaic birds on the exterior wall of the main building.

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Fiona Ng

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Fiona Ng

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“ They would also practice making mosaics of the birds,” said Adam Arenson, a historian at Iona University in New York.

Some of these pieces made their way to the exterior wall of the main building, which since the 1980s has been where eye patients are seen.

“ People have a hard time realizing it's a doctor's office,” said John McDermott III, my doctor at Claremont Eye Associates. His family has owned the property for some five decades.

“I've heard a whole bunch of different things that said, ‘Oh, I thought that was a Buddhist temple and, you know, I thought it was an art gallery.’ And they are surprised to see that it's three ophthalmologists working there,” he said.

The main office building of Claremont Eye Associates.

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Millard Sheets used the taller of the two buildings to lay out and set the mosaics. Claremont Eye Associates uses the building to store files.

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Fiona Ng

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I guessed that the office had a past life as a small art museum. Turns out, I wasn’t far off.

It was the site of the Millard Sheets studio, where giant, breathtaking mosaic murals were made for more than a hundred buildings that dot the region.

Pomona Valley’s very own 

Millard Owens Sheets

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By permission from CalART.com

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Millard Sheets was born in Pomona in 1907 and raised by his grandparents on a horse ranch. As a child, Arenson said, Sheets displayed a flair for painting and watercolor, winning his first local competition at age 12. He went on to study at Chouinard Art Institute — the predecessor of CalArts — and was asked to teach before he even graduated. In 1932, he taught at Scripps College as its only art instructor, quickly building out an entire department, while transforming Claremont into a thriving local art colony over a two-decade long tenure at the school.

“Millard Sheets was involved with so many of the art projects in Los Angeles. It's true that his name is generally not as well-known as his influence,” said Arenson, author of Banking on Beauty: Millard Sheets and Midcentury Commercial Architecture in California.

While at Scripps, Arenson said, Sheets began constructing a work studio — a hop-and-skip off what is now busy Foothill Boulevard.

“ I've seen pictures when it was built in the ‘50s and there was nothing there but dirt,” McDermott said.

The site of the Millard Sheets studio before it was built.

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Courtesy John McDermott III

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The office of Claremont Eye Associations in Claremont.

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Fiona Ng

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Millard Sheets design studio

The plaque denoting the studio is still in front of Claremont Eye Associates.

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Historian Arenson said construction was finished somewhere in the second half of the 1950s, coinciding with the completion of the first Home Savings and Loan building Sheets was tapped to design by businessman Howard Ahmanson.

That branch on Wilshire Boulevard — with its mosaic mural, stained glass and long rectangular frame — was so beloved by Angelenos that Sheets ended up designing some 120 Home Savings and Loan branches in total, creating a sort of unified aesthetic across these works.

• Go deeper
  
  • The Iconic Murals Of Millard Sheets Are Disappearing From LA
  • A map of Sheets studio projects historian Adam Arenson has compiled

Since he wasn’t a licensed architect, Sheets assembled those with the expertise at his newly built studio in Claremont for these undertakings.

“It was built as a workspace for a number of architects, painters, mosaic assistants,” said Arenson, adding that Sheets was responsible for many of the sketching, subject and color decisions.

Millard Sheets studio being built.

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Courtesy John McDermott III

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Courtesy John McDermott III

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“The team under him were the people doing the mosaics and training new generations of Scripps and Claremont students to join the studio and do the work,” he said.

That included mosaic muralist Denis O’Connor and Sue Lautmann Hertel, a Scripps graduate who became an integral part of the studio and was herself a noted artist. Her paintings still hang in the lobby of the main Claremont Eye Associates building.

The eye doctor’s office

John McDermott III was born and raised in Claremont and returned to gradually take over the business from his father after going away for medical school.

Growing up, what McDermott remembered was a land of lemon groves, before tract homes and suburbanization started to rapidly take over in the 1970s.

A painting by Sue Lautmann Hertel in the waiting room of Claremont Eye Associates.

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“ Claremont back then was a pretty small, tight community,” McDermott said.

He doesn’t know how his parents met Sheets, but knew from overhearing conversations that he was a renowned artist.

The younger McDermott would come to know the Sheets studio well, after his father acquired the building in the mid-1970s.

“ I remember when they bought the building, because shortly thereafter, I was recruited to clean the building and also help out with the landscaping,” McDermott said.

“I was always fascinated by it. Because when I was inside and cleaning the bathrooms or whatever, I always was impressed, you know, with the marble floors and the mosaics. And likewise [the] outside,” he added. “As a kid, I thought that was pretty cool.”

And he got a rare front row seat for the Sheets studio in action, because the artist and his team were still working at the building for several years after it changed hands.

“I remember going in there and seeing the various artists that worked there,” McDermott said. “They had these huge buckets of tiles, as a little kid we'd always want to grab a few, because they were shiny.”

A mosaic mural on the side of one of the buildings.

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McDermott said the property has been kept as intact as possible. A small addition was put in, attached to one of the buildings. It was so seamlessly done, he said, you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.

Some years ago, his wife, Leea, and a former neighbor — an architect who had worked with Richard Neutra — designed and installed the landscaping. But they had to get rid of the bird cage after repeated acts of vandalism.

The inside was also largely preserved, save for the walls added to create exam rooms.

The doctor's favorite area of the entire compound remains sacred.

“ Millard's office is where I sit with my two partners, [at] the same desk that he built in the ‘50s,” McDermott said. “ That's where Millard used to sit. This beautiful desk and these high vaulted ceilings. I really love that space.”

He promised a tour the next time I’m there. But many people, McDermott said, show up unannounced to take in the garden, the mosaics, all the history.

“ I'm a real believer that architecture really influences how people act and feel,” he said. “Beautiful spaces like that, whether it's a doctor's office or a school, really enhance people's well-being.”

Details

• Claremont Eye Associates
  655 E. Foothill Blvd., Claremont
• Esotouric, the gem of all things L.A., has offered guided tours of Sheets’ works in Pomona and Claremont led by Arenson. No word on the next installment yet, but the team has put together this wonderful guide.

In the wake of the Eaton Fire, Altadena and Pasadena’s music community have really shown up to support fire survivors, especially fellow musicians who lost instruments and record collections.

That effort continues this weekend with a special donation concert at a Pasadena record store, with the aim of getting vinyl records back in the hands of survivors who lost their collections.

“You know, our name is Healing Force of the Universe, and I think that gives me a pretty clear direction… especially after the fires,” said Austin Manuel, founder of Pasadena record store, where Sunday’s show will be held.

The record donation effort is the brainchild of musician Brandon Jay, who founded the nonprofit Altadena Musicians after losing his home and almost all of his family’s instruments in the Eaton Fire. Through Altadena Musicians’s donation and registry platform, Jay said he and his partners have helped some 1,200 fire survivors get their music instruments back.

Brandon Jay.

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Now, that effort has fanned out to restoring vinyl record collections.

“All of that stuff evaporated for thousands of people,” Jay said. “Look at your own record collection and be like, ‘Wow, what if that whole thing disappeared?’”

You might know Jay from several bands over the years, including Lutefisk, a 1990s alt-rock band based in Los Angeles. He and his wife, Gwendolyn Sanford, composed music for TV shows, including Orange is the New Black and Weeds.

Jay plans to play some holiday tunes at Sunday's record donation show (which LAist is the media sponsor), along with fellow musician Daniel Brummel of Sanglorians. Brummel, who was also a founding member of Pasadena’s indie-rock sensation Ozma, said he was grateful to Jay for his fire recovery work and to Manuel for making Healing Force available for shows like this.

Brummel, who came close to losing his own home in the Eaton Fire, recalled a show he played at Healing Force back in March.

Ryen Slegr (left) and Daniel Brummel perform with their band, Ozma, on the 2014 Weezer Cruise.

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Even Keel Imagery

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“The trauma of the fires was still really fresh,” Brummel said. After playing a cover of Rufus Wainwright’s “Going to a Town,” that night — which includes the lyrics “I’m going to a town that has already been burnt down” — Brummel said his neighbors in the audience told him the rendition hit them hard. “It felt really powerful. And without that space, it just wouldn’t have occurred.”

Details

Healing Force of the Universe Record Donation Show
Featuring: Quasar (aka Brandon Jay), Sanglorians (Daniel Brummel) and The Acrylic.
Sunday, Dec. 14; 2 to 5 p.m.
1200 E. Walnut St., Pasadena
Tickets are $15 or you can donate 5 or more records at the door. More info here.

Topline:

The case: In September, the city settled a lawsuit brought forward by two brothers in their 70s who said they suffered serious injuries after an LAPD officer crashed into their car. Days before the $18 million settlement was reached, lawyers for the brothers said Feldstein Soto called an expert witness testifying for the plaintiffs and “attempted to ingratiate herself with him and asked him to make a contribution to her political campaign,” according to a sworn declaration to the court by the plaintiffs’ attorney, Robert Glassman.

The response: Feldstein Soto did not respond to an interview request. Her spokesperson said the settlement “had nothing to do” with the expert witness. Her campaign manager told LAist the city attorney had been making a routine fundraising call and did not know the person had a role in the case, nor that there were pending requests for her office to pay him fees.

What Jurado says: In a statement to LAist, Jurado said she wants to “make sure that the city’s legal leadership is guided by integrity and accountability, especially when their choices affect public trust, civic rights and the city’s limited resources."

What’s next: The motion needs to go through a few committees before reaching the full City Council. If it passes, the motion calls for the city attorney to “report to council in closed session within 45 days regarding the ethics breach violation and give updates to the City Council."

Every year in Santa Ana, Luis Cantabrana turns the front of his home into an elaborate altar in honor of La Virgen de Guadalupe that draws hundreds of visitors.

Along the front of the house, the multi-colored altar is filled with lights, flowers and a stained-glass tapestry behind a sculpture of the Lady of Guadalupe. Cantabrana’s roof also is lit up with the green, white and red lights that spell out “Virgen de Guadalupe” and a cross.

Visitors are welcomed with music and the smell of roses as they celebrate the saint, but this year’s gathering comes after a dark year for immigrant communities.

Luis Cantabrana stands in front of the stunning altar he built in front of his home in honor of La Virgen de Guadalupe. Every year, his display draws hundreds of visitors.

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Why do they celebrate? 

In 1513, the Virgin Mary appeared before St. Juan Diego between Dec. 9 and Dec. 12, asking him to build a church in her honor. Her image — a brown-skinned woman wearing a green veil with her hands together in prayer and an angel at her feet — miraculously appeared on his cloak.

To celebrate in Santa Ana, worshippers gathered late-night Wednesday and in the very early hours Dec. 12 to pray the rosary, sing hymns and celebrate the saint.

Cantabrana has hosted worshippers at his home for 27 years — 17 in Santa Ana.

The altar started out small, he said, and over the years, he added a fabric background, more lights and flowers (lots and lots of flowers).

“It started with me making a promise to la Virgen de Guadalupe that while I had life and a home to build an altar, that I would do it,” Cantabrana said. “Everything you see in photos and videos is pretty, but when you come and see it live, it's more than pretty. It's beautiful.”

The Santa Ana home's elaborate altar in honor of La Virgen de Guadalupe draws hundreds of visitors each year.

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Destiny Torres

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Gathering in a time of turmoil 

Many also look to the Lady of Guadalupe for protection, especially at a time when federal enforcement has rattled immigrant communities.

“People don’t want to go to work, they don’t want to take their kids to school, but the love we have for our Virgen de Guadalupe,” Cantabrana said. “We see that la Virgen de Guadalupe has a lot of power, and so we know immigration [enforcement] won’t come here.”

Margarita Lopez of Garden Grove has been visiting the altar for three years with her husband. She’s been celebrating the Virgencita since she was a young girl. Honoring the saint is as important now as ever, she said.

“We ask, and she performs miracles,” Lopez said.

Claudia Tapia, a lifelong Santa Ana resident, said the Virgin Mary represents strength.

“Right now, with everything going on, a lot of our families [have] turned and prayed to the Virgen for strength during these times,” Tapia said. “She's a very strong symbol of Mexican culture, of unity, of faith and of resilience.”

See it for yourself

The shrine will stay up into the new year on the corner of Broadway and Camile Street.