A Decade Downtown
When we opened our doors in Downtown Los Angeles’s Arts District in 2016, the gallery arrived not as a distant institution dropped into a burgeoning neighborhood, but as a space intended to grow alongside one. A decade later, that growth is legible in every dimension of the site and in the nearly two million visitors who have embraced it.
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10 Year Party: Celebrate a Decade Downtown
Join us on Saturday 30 May, 11 am – 4 pm, as we celebrate a decade of exhibitions, artists and community with a full day of performances, talks, family activities, flower workshops, complimentary treats and dancing. Inspired by ‘Destiny Is a Rose: The Eileen Harris Norton Collection,’ the event honors everything we’ve grown together over the past 10 years.
A Place for Artists and Community
Our investment in Los Angeles dates back to the gallery’s earliest years, shaped through long-standing relationships with artists who have defined the city’s artistic legacy, and fueled by its spirit of innovation, reinvention and cultural exchange. The space has helped carry this commitment forward, placing international voices in sustained dialogue with the artists and ideas that power one of the most creative cities in the world.
Since opening 10 years ago, the former flour mill has been transformed into a vibrant cultural hub that has grown to mean far more to the community than any single exhibition space could. Visitors come, and return, for landmark exhibitions, performances and talks, education initiatives and time spent in the open courtyard, garden and dining at Manuela. This ongoing and varied engagement reflects how fully the space has been taken up by the surrounding community, and how that relationship has shaped its development over time.
‘Our Downtown space is a manifestation of Hauser & Wirth's deep commitment to Los Angeles and a love affair that stretches back to the gallery’s earliest days. Over ten years, the exhibition program has been shaped by the extraordinary artists who call LA home, and by the dialogue that happens when you place their work alongside leading international voices.’
Marc Payot
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Local Approach, Global Outlook
Across 10 years and more than 90 exhibitions, the program has foregrounded the groundbreaking techniques, diverse viewpoints and lasting contributions of contemporary and historic voices. A dedicated focus on artists living and working in Los Angeles has remained central, including Larry Bell, Mark Bradford, Charles Gaines, Richard Jackson, Paul McCarthy, Christina Quarles, Gary Simmons, Henry Taylor, and the late Luchita Hurtado, Mike Kelley and Jason Rhoades. These presentations trace the enduring contributions of artists who have shaped Los Angeles’ cultural identity across generations, and whose work continues to define contemporary practice worldwide.
Gathering Points
From the outset, the Los Angeles gallery has extended its work beyond exhibitions to engage the broader networks that define the city. Over 1,700 talks, screenings, performances and community events have created regular opportunities for exchange, welcoming a diverse public into conversation with artists and ideas.
Partnerships with LA institutions, nonprofits and businesses have drawn on the full range of the site’s spaces, from its exhibition galleries to the open-air courtyard, and reflect a consistent investment in programming that moves across disciplines.
‘From its very inception, Hauser & Wirth Downtown Los Angeles has worked to build a home not just for our artists, but for our city's diverse public. It is the connections we continue to cultivate with our neighbors and community that imbue this space with true meaning.’
Stacen Berg
Learning
At our Downtown Los Angeles gallery, Learning programs connect artists and artworks with students, educators and community partners, with a focus on access and participation. Learning programs continue to engage local groups and harder-to-reach demographics, partner with schools and students across Southern California and bring young people into the gallery's orbit to build meaningful pathways into creative careers.
Since opening, more than 120,000 students have taken part in tours, workshops and programs.
We support and collaborate with a wide range of local and international cultural organizations, museums, nonprofits and universities, including ArtCenter, Arts for Healing and Justice Network, Art + Practice, California State University, Los Angeles, Inner-City Arts, Las Fotos Project, Nest Global, University of California, Los Angeles and University of Southern California.
Art, Food and Sustainability
The courtyard, garden and Manuela restaurant extend the gallery experience into a shared, open environment, recognized with the 2019 Landscape Architecture Award at the 49th Los Angeles Architectural Awards.
At the center of the site, Manuela restaurant delivers an authentic and original dining experience animated by specially commissioned works by Paul McCarthy, Mark Bradford and Raymond Pettibon. Under the direction of Executive Chef Kris Tominaga, the menu celebrates seasonal ingredients sourced from the best farms and producers in Southern California.
The garden, a certified Wildlife Habitat as recognized by the National Wildlife Federation, features a chicken coop and beds of herbs and vegetables that supply the onsite restaurant, integrating urban agriculture and community use within the heart of the Arts District.
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An Architectural Gem
The adaptive reuse of the historic Globe Mills complex, a collection of buildings dating to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, set the stage for the site as it exists today. Restored by Creative Space LA in consultation with Annabelle Selldorf of Selldorf Architects, the project was recognized with the Chair’s Award from the Los Angeles Conservancy in 2018, the organization’s highest honor for the preservation of historic landmarks that make the city unique.
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Hauser & Wirth Publishing
Supporting the relationship between printed matter and artistic practice has been part of the Downtown Los Angeles gallery's approach since the space opened. The site is home to the first ARTBOOK store in Los Angeles, where titles connected to the gallery’s current exhibitions and artists complement an extensive inventory of art and culture publications, along with a large selection of children’s books.
Over 10 years, the Downtown gallery has established itself as a gathering point for the broader publishing community through book launches, Book Labs and programs such as ‘Mornings in the Garden,’ a three-day series of public talks on bookmaking organized in partnership with Printed Matter during the 2023 LA Art Book Fair.