Inside the 2022 California Masonic Memorial Temple Activation Campaign
In the fall of 2022, the Masons of California launched a three-part, multimedia campaign to highlight the California Masonic Memorial Temple in San Francisco, the fraternity’s state headquarters. The temple (referred to as either the CMMT or The Masonic) includes a well-known music and performance venue, exhibition hall, plus the offices of the Grand Lodge of California, the archive of the Henry Wilson Coil Library and Museum of Freemasonry, and the new Freemasons’ Hall—an intimate Masonic lodge room and lounge area.
The multipart campaign highlighted the circa-1965 temple’s various uses, as well as its historical significance and its importance to California Freemasonry. With more than 250,000 visitors each year, the campaign aimed to better inform the public about an architectural and fraternal treasure hiding in plain sight.
The campaign included several components—in print, online, and through QR codes posted throughout the venue.
Print Magazine
California Freemason Magazine: The Temple (Fall 2022)
The Masons of California dedicated the fall 2022 issue of their member magazine, California Freemason, to an exploration of the CMMT—including an architectural history of the building; a tour of the luxe Freemasons’ Hall; a feature profile of the artist behind the signature 48-foot-long endomosaic window in the building’s lobby; and a special gatefold pullout section annotating the many Masonic symbols contained within the endomosaic. The print edition reaches approximately 40,000 California Masons and their families, as well as several Masonic lodges throughout the country; the digital edition of the magazine reaches about 12,000 users per month.
Link: California Freemason Fall 2022 (digital edition)
Link: California Freemason Fall 2022 (print PDF)
Webpage
California Masonic Memorial Temple Webpage
Created a series of dynamic new webpages filled with contemporary and archival photography, video, and text explaining the architectural, historical, and fraternal significance of the CMMT.
Link: The California Masonic Memorial Temple (webpage)
Webpage
‘Window of Wonder’ Webpage
Part II of our new CMMT-focused series of webpages, this one about the history and significance of artist Emile Norman’s massive “endomosaic” window, which is visible to visitors in the main-floor lobby of the temple. The artwork is chock-a-block full of historical and Masonic symbolism and allegories.
Link: Window of Wonder (webpage)
Webpage
Inside a Masonic Lodge Room Webpage
Most people have never set foot inside a Masonic lodge room—a fascinating space full of unusual fraternal objects and symbols. The last in our series of new webpages for the CMMT is focused on bringing outsiders into Freemasons’ Hall, the newly built, intimate lodge room housed inside the temple.
Link: Inside a Lodge Room (webpage)
QR Codes
Physical QR Code Installation
Sticker-posters hung throughout the interior and exterior of the temple now direct visitors—including those who enter the venue for music and comedy performances—to our new online resources about the building. Similar QR code posters have also been handed out to constituent lodges, helping them better-inform the public in their own communities about Freemasonry in California.
