The first thing you notice when you walk through the door into M. J. Higgins Fine Art and Furnishings in downtown Los Angeles is the quality of the art, and how the work on the walls crosses genres; all in harmony. The second thing you notice is how relaxed the gallery feels. Unlike the sterile hard environment that many galleries present, Martha Higgins, the owner and curator, has created a space that invites you to take your time and experience the art. The gallery is airy and filled with light, the high ceilings contributing to the feeling of openness that makes the gallery feel larger than it is. The addition of sofas and easy chairs placed conveniently around the gallery for relaxing with friends and viewing the art adds to the sense of welcome that pervades the gallery. It is no accident that the gallery feels as comfortable as it does.
Martha Higgins has been involved in the arts since her childhood in Covina, and has wanted to own an art gallery since early in her professional career. Always intrigued by the effect of our environments, she decided that designing harmonious living and working spaces might be the most creative thing she could do so she decided to pursue a career in interior design. She switched majors from fine arts, and graduated with a BFA in interior design from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle Washington in 1991. Due to that recession, she returned to Los Angeles in 1992, and worked for a number of years as a scenic artist in the film and television industry. At the same time she studied Feng Shui at two different institutes while she prepared to follow her own path. In 1997 Martha was ready, and she launched M Higgins Crafting Environments where she used all her experience in her different fields of study to design the kind of harmonious environments that foster creativity. For the next seven years she designed and oversaw the construction of fitness centers, day spas, and numerous residential projects.
While immersing herself in her work, Martha came to realize that art creates the ultimate Feng Shui force, and that art is the best investment a client can make to insure an environment that will serve them for years to come. She decided to pursue her dream of opening her own gallery, and began looking for a suitable space. In June 2004 at a gallery owner forum she heard Bert Green speak about the newly designated Gallery Row District downtown. This was the sign she had been looking for. She contacted Kjell Hagen of the Gallery Row Organization and was happily shown a building he wanted to sublet, a beautiful old free standing iron frame and brick building. Located on the same block of South Main Street downtown as the rebuilt Saint Vibiana’s Cathedral, it was perfect and Martha’s dream became reality.
The building was a wonderful old structure built in 1896 with 18 foot high ceilings, brick walls a foot thick and an authentic looking speakeasy in the basement complete with hidden stairways. Martha and previous partner and brother, Jon Higgins, transformed the building into what was recognized as the most beautiful and graceful art gallery in Los Angeles. It became a very popular event location and was home to many fine gatherings.
Then the old adage about no good deed going unpunished raised its ugly head. The City powers that be, encouraged by the downtown developers who never saw a space that they didn’t believe they could improve upon by tearing down a piece of history and erecting some wallet expanding glaringly ugly concrete edifice, decided to replace the building with the new LAPD parking structure. One can’t help but be reminded of Joni Mitchell’s immortal line about paving paradise to put up a parking lot. There it was in reality as well as song. Martha found herself on the receiving end of that wonderful device of progress in action, eminent domain.
Along with many local residents and business owners, Martha spent the 2 ½ years in an effort to save the building and the original City master plan for a public park south of City Hall. Their campaign included letter writing, petition signing, attending and speaking out at all meetings and hearings on the subject. Never was the public allowed to voice any comment regarding the placement of the Police Headquarters or the Police motor pool, but merely allowed to comment on the design. It seems that the majority of the City Council never listened to any of the comments made by the many concerned residents and business owners. And so the wrecking ball fell in early 2008.
Martha Higgins is nothing if not resilient though and in October 2007, with less than a week to move after receiving relocation funds and the assistance of Tom Gilmore, she leased a space on the 4th Street side of the wonderful Lankersheim building. The gallery is located two blocks south of the original location. The only problem was that this location could serve as a gallery but would not accommodate the event business that had been built over the past 3 years. Martha was referred to the Amerland Corp. as they were looking to bring in someone with a track record of successful events in downtown to create a space in the Alexandria Hotel adjacent to the ballrooms. They were very encouraging and it seemed to be a wonderful and viable situation. Later they reneged on their agreement to allow access to the ballrooms and extend their liquor license, leaving Martha without an income for a year. Her events and venue are sorely missed as for many it was the glue that held the newly forming creative community together. Now in need of support in dealing with Amerland she finds that again the City just doesn’t seem to really care about the creative souls and businesses that are actually fueling the rejuvenation of the Historic Core. That is another story which I will pursue in another article.
Martha’s primary focus has always been to present something that is positive, beautiful, and uplifting in nature. Both the environment of the gallery and the art Martha presents echo this focus. The new M. J. Higgins Fine Art and Furnishings is located on 4th Street, east of Main, right around the corner from Pete’s Cafe in the heart of the Gallery Row District
Martin J. Waterman is a fine art photographer and freelance writer who lives in
