Doyle Lane / Southfield Michigan

Did you know there was a monumental Doyle Lane mural in Michigan? 

My recent trip to the water wonderland included a stop to see if  Lane's Gold Arc ceramic mural was still there.  It was commissioned for The B’nai David Synagogue Sanctuary, which was built in 1966--although the mural wasn't installed until 1968. The sanctuary was designed by Los Angeles architect Sidney Eisenshtat (1914-2004), which probably explains how a Lane mural ended up there. I believe this is his only large scale commission outside of California. 

Also, this is a vintage postcard I bought online. 

The complex is located in Southfield, an inner-ring suburb of Detroit. This was the third structure on the campus. In 1959, Louis G. Redstone designed the first building in an International Style.

Sidney Eisenshtat was Born in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1914. His family settled in Detroit but moved to Los Angeles in 1926 in search of what was described as a "less anti-Semitic atmosphere". He graduated from the USC of Architecture in 1935. Eisenshtat was known for his synagogues and Jewish academic buildings. I've read that as an observant Orthodox Jew, he did not accept fees for his synagogue projects. In 1951, he designed his first synagogue, Temple Emanuel in Beverly Hills.

According to the Bethlehem Steel ad above... "the design of the completely column-free sanctuary was made possible by a structural steel framing system devised by the project architect, Mr. Sidney Eisenshtat of Los Angeles, Calif., associate architects Havis-Glovinsky Associates of Detroit, and the strucшга! engineering firm of McWilliam and Keckonen of Birmingham, Mich."

"The prayer hall, according to Eisenshtat, is an allusion to the altar of the Temple in Jerusalem. A striking edifice, each side of which is a segmental arch with the inverted arch forming the roofline, the structure seems to be poised on the ground like some great winged creature. Between the lower arches of the exterior, one can see the curving stained-glass windows of the circular sanctuary. Just as the building seems to float, the suspended ceiling hovers over the prayer hall; at its center a mesh screen with a circle of lights floats over the worshippers. The circle is the dominant motif in the one-thousand seat sanctuary: the room is round, the central bimah round, and the pews follow the curve of the space. The stained-glass windows are graded in tones from blue at the ark to gold and earth tones at the lobby exit, again drawing the viewer’s eyes around the space." - Buildings of Michigan by Eckert, Kathryn Bishop

The property has changed hands a number of times over the years and is now home to The Empowerment Church. From the exterior, the building looks well taken care of and unaltered.

We went to the office and asked about the mural but they had no idea what we were talking. In fact, they said it wasn't there. I've been through that disappointment before.

They humored us and let us into the building.

Although it's painted silver, it's still there!

The building was being used as an events space called Silver Gardens Event Center. Therefore, the silver paint.

This was the vibe. 

Source: Silver Gardens

The good news is that it's there and the church that owns the building now knows they have a special piece. They were already asking about how they should restore it.

As you can see here, it was originally yellow and golds, hence the title, Golden Arc.