Hauser Wirth + Schimmel (HWS), the powerhouse venture that joins the forces of London-Zurich-New York mega-gallery Hauser & Wirth with longtime MOCA Los Angeles curator Paul Schimmel, will open in January 2015 in a former flour mill in downtown Los Angeles.

The 100,000-square foot building at 901 East 3rd Street will be gut-renovated, but first it will host a three-month exhibition of works by LA artists in the building’s current state. The gallery’s roster of Angeleno artists is quite deep, and includes Mark Bradford, Thomas Houseago, Richard Jackson, Rachel Khedoori, Paul McCarthy, Sterling Ruby, and Diana Thater, as well as the estates of Allan Kaprow and Jason Rhoades. Following that blow-out opener, HWS will close for a complete renovation and reopen about a year later.

Archival drawing of Globe Grain and Milling Company complex, Los Angeles, future site of Hauser Wirth & Schimmel.
Courtesy Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection.

“I’m thrilled to welcome Hauser Wirth & Schimmel to LA’s downtown Arts District,” Eric Garcetti, the mayor of Los Angeles, said in a statement. “Their new commitment to our renowned contemporary art scene is just the latest piece of LA’s cultural renaissance, positioning us squarely at the heart of international creativity.”

The gallery plans to be more of a small contemporary art museum, with not only indoor and outdoor exhibition spaces—the building also boasts a 20,000-square-foot internal courtyard—but also studios for artist residencies and special projects, a bookstore, and a restaurant. The old mill, which has been largely unoccupied since the 1950s, has become known as the Graffiti Building for the impressive street art array on its exterior. The graffiti will remain through 2015, before being painted over as part of the renovation.

“Los Angeles has exploded as a creative community for the visual arts,” Schimmel said in a statement. “Artists based here want to exhibit in their home town, and increasing numbers of artists from around the world want to live and work in Los Angeles. With Hauser Wirth & Schimmel, we aspire to give all of these artists a unique second home: a place to create and show their art in historical context, a place that encourages their most rigorous and best expressions, a place that brings them and their art into a dynamic, exciting, and transformational dialogue with the public.”