Butler opened her namesake gallery in 1968 after parting ways with Riko Mizuno. Butler's main focus for her gallery was on conceptual art consisting of dematerialized and non-object oriented work. She was an early champion of conceptual art, developing the hallmarks of space, interaction and performance. The gallery opened with Allen Rupperberg's first solo show where he presented "Location Piece". Later that same year James Lee Bryars, a conceptual and performance artist, built a block wall separating Butler's office from the gallery. Butler also presented conceptual artist John Baldessari's second gallery exhibition in 1970. Butler was the first person to sell one of Baldessari's photographs. The most controversial piece to come out of the Eugenia Butler Gallery was Swiss artist Dieter Roth's exhibition, "Staple Cheese (A Race)" (1970). Roth filled 37 suitcases with cheese and left them in the gallery during summer. The health department's attempts to shut the exhibition down were thwarted by Butler's husband on the grounds of artistic merit.
