WILSHIRE SUBWAY: THE MAKING OF THE D LINE SUBWAY EXTENSION
To celebrate the opening of the first segment of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (Metro’s) D Line Subway Extension, 1301 PE will present a selection of photographs by artist Ken Karagozian that capture the monumental scale of construction alongside intimate portraits of the workers who brought it to life. The exhibition will be accompanied by a new book, Wilshire Subway: The Making of the D Line Subway Extension, a photographic cultural history of the construction project written and edited by India Mandelkern and photographed by Karagozian. The book features a foreword by former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and additional guest essays by literary critic David L. Ulin, architect Leo Marmol, and urban planner James Rojas, which contextualize the project within broader conversations about LA’s political, social, and geological complexities.
Stretching nine miles from Koreatown to Westwood, the D Line Subway Extension represents a major turning point for public transit in Los Angeles. It is the longest subway project ever to tunnel through tar-infested sands, the most expensive project to date in Metro’s history (costing over $9.7 billion!), and one of the region’s most ambitious transportation investments in decades. The first section stretches from the existing Wilshire/Western station to a new station at Wilshire/La Cienega, measures 3.92 miles, and was built by the joint venture Skanska-Traylor-Shea.
“Given the long and fraught history of rail building ambition on Wilshire Boulevard, I was initially drawn to this project for historical reasons,” says Mandelkern. “But through my conversations with the tradespeople who built it, I quickly realized that the portraits tell a much more universal story about what it means to be an Angeleno today.”
Exhibition Details
Dates: May 1–14, 2026
Opening Reception + Book Signing: May 1, 4:00PM–7:00PM
Gallery Hours: Tuesday–Saturday, 10:00AM–6:00PM
Location: 1301 PE, 6150 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90048
The gallery is located just one block from the brand-new Wilshire/Fairfax station on the Metro D Line as well as Metro Bus Lines 720 and 20. There is also limited parking onsite.
Book Details
Wilshire Subway: The Making of the D Line Subway Extension
82 pages; softcover
50+ black-and-white photographs
ISBN: 9798218874735
8 x 10 x .25 inch
First edition
Buy Wilshire Subway at indiamandelkern.com/wilshiresubway, 1301PE, as well as select independent bookstores throughout Los Angeles such as LACMA, Artbook @ Hauser & Wirth, Skylight Books, North Figueroa Bookshop, Stories Books & Cafe, CRAFT Contemporary and others.
The book was made possible thanks to the generous support of Skanska-Traylor-Shea.
About the Author
India Mandelkern is a historian and writer based in Altadena, California. She is the author of Electric Moons: A Social History of Street Lighting in Los Angeles (2023) and has written for numerous publications. She spent three years working at Metro as editor of the agency’s blog, The Source.
About the Photographer
Ken Karagozian is a San Fernando Valley-based photographer who has spent more than three decades documenting the return of rail to Los Angeles. His work has been published in LIFE Magazine, the Los Angeles Times, and collected by The Huntington Library and Metro.
About the Contributors
Leo Marmol is an architect and painter. He is the co-founder of the design-build firm Marmol Radziner and has overseen the design and construction of countless projects, including the restoration of iconic Neutra, Schindler, and Lautner homes.
David Ulin is the author or editor of 20 books, including the novel Thirteen Question Method and Sidewalking: Coming to Terms with Los Angeles. He is a Professor of English at the University of Southern California, where he co-directs the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities and edits the journal Air/Light.
James Rojas is an urban planner, community activist, educator and artist who runs the planning and community-outreach practice ‘Place It!’. He is the author of Dream Play Build: Hands-On Community Engagement for Enduring Spaces and Places.