The Box LA gallery, located in the Arts District of Downtown Los Angeles, started in 2007 and worked to create a unique art space–exhibiting work from artists with a diverse range of mediums, both historical and contemporary, many of whom have been unsupported and/or forgotten. The Box offered the public a vast way to understand the lost histories that need to be revealed and better understood. Many of these artists were excluded for their radical perspectives and/or for expressing uniquely feminine ideas. We recognize the role of the art market as a means for artists to enter/re-enter histories but refuse to prioritize the commercial value of the work over the cultural, political, spiritual or psychological content that the work may offer. The Box was opened by and was under the direction of Mara McCarthy, the Principal/Curator.
The Box LA, originally located on the historic Chung King Road of Chinatown, Los Angeles, was established via conversations with her father, Paul McCarthy, when they realized how many critically important artists in their community had been overlooked and were not being shown. This group of artists was the focus of The Box’s early program, with exhibitions that would shift the understanding of artists, such as Barbara T. Smith, Simone Forti, Stan VanDerBeek and Wally Hedrick. After moving into the Arts District in 2012 and developing the program even more, McCarthy expanded her vision of the gallery and realized the importance of showing politically and psychologically dynamic work. McCarthy was also interested in working to expand the notion of a commercial gallery, choosing to be artist centered and found new ways to work with more diverse audiences. The Box expanded the access and concept of its gallery program to include Dance, Painting, Music/Sound, Art History, Sculpture, Social Justice projects, Performance and Gallery Editions.
During the Covid-19 Pandemic, McCarthy realized the power of the gallery's parking lot to house and support communities that had been abandoned. This included a partnership with Pieter Performance space, creating Pieter Parking space, providing a place for dance and movement based practices via the Pieter Parking Space Residencies. Another in-process project included the installation of a prototype for El Jardín de Estrellas, a low income housing project spearheaded by artist Corazon del Sol. In conjunction with this project The Box collaborated with homeLA in special programming addressing the unhoused and building empathy, with their pilot project, Embodying Empathy.
April 24, 2026
The Box LA is closing. The last exhibition, Wally Hedrick: Sex, Politics, Religion, was our final show. While this decision has been brewing for some time, it has landed with urgency, shaped by a set of circumstances that made continuing impossible. We will mark the closing with a celebration on June 6, with a Johanna Went Fashion Show done in collaboration with Asher Hartman. It feels right to end this way, with the kind of work we always existed to support: radical, enlightening, and not easily contained by the commercial marketplace.
From its beginning, The Box was an artist-formed space. It grew out of a collaboration between myself and my father, the artist Paul McCarthy, and was shaped as a response to his market success, which arrived late in his career. So many of his peers, including artists like Barbara T. Smith and Simone Forti, were equal pioneers in performance art, but without platforms for their work to become known by wider audiences. The Box formed to help fill this void.
While our program has often resembled what a nonprofit art space might embrace, we made a deliberate choice to engage the marketplace as a for-profit gallery, with the capacity to actively shape a presence for experimental artists whose work had otherwise gone unrecognized.
The truth is that our program has been sustained in large part by the generous support of McCarthy Studios, and by my mother and father’s steadfast vision to seed the type of arts community and economy they hoped to see bloom. But the market has not always readily embraced the work we champion. And the support around my father’s work that has underwritten this space has shifted in recent years. Coupled with the hardships of the past year, including every member of our family losing our homes in the Eaton fire; continuing is no longer feasible.
This is not a decision made lightly. This space, these artists, and this community have been my life for the past 19 years. I am grateful for the trust artists placed in us, and for everyone who showed up with attention and care. The connections made here, between artists, writers, curators, supporters, employees, families, friends, have been the real legacy of The Box. The folks to thank here are too long to list, but a few to mention; Robert Zin Stark, Jacqueline Kennedy, Jason Underhill, LeRoy Stevens, Hillary Graves, Christine Varney, Catherine Vu, Andra Nadirshah, Jacky Perez, Saliko Adams and Eli Chartkoff. These Box crew members helped us foster a space of care, thoughtful conversations and fun. My family and I deeply thank all of you.
As a woman, a curator, and someone who long ago understood the power of art to alter the course of a life, I will not stop being present in this world, and I will not stop advocating for the artists I believe in. It has been among my deepest joys to exhibit and foster their work. Over the years I have come to understand that supporting artists takes many forms, and exhibitions are only one of them. What many artists need most is conversation, presence, and genuine engagement, and that will not stop for me. At the same time, after spending the majority of my adult life in service to the creative work of others, I feel a pull toward exploring other parts of self, and I am ready to make room for it.
Mara McCarthy