UPCOMING EVENTS
"Jardin Interieur" Creative Layers: A Collage Adventure!
Join exhibiting artist Marie B Gauthiez for a 2-hour workshop inspired by the layered narratives and intimate spaces explored in her solo show, Jardin Intérieur. Working from their personal memories of childhood rooms and gardens, participants will delve into the psychological and material process of mixed media collage to create their own visual story. Discover how to layer textures, images, and fragments to evoke a sense of place, time, and identity, much like the dreamlike scenes in Jardin Interior. All materials will be provided, just bring your curiosity and willingness to explore! Free & open to the public.
"haus of bambi: A Radical PRIDE" Opening Reception
Join us for the Opening Reception of haus of bambi: A RADICAL PRIDE.
"Jardin Interieur" Open House Reception
Join us for an Open House Reception on Sat. May 10 from 12 - 6 PM, featuring a conversation with exhibition artist Marie B Gauthiez, moderated by Kyle Hackett at 1 PM.
Among All These Dreamers: a Communal Dream Circle
This public gathering invites participants to join a Community Dream Circle ––a collective space for sharing, listening, and interpreting dreams as interconnected experiences. Rooted in ancestral traditions and storytelling practices, the circle will explore how dreams shape our identities, connect us to cultural memory, and inspire visions for the future. Bring a chair, blanket, or something to sit on!
Among All These Dreamers: an Intimate Dream Circle
This special program invites participants to gather in a Dream Circle –a space for sharing, exploring, and interpreting dreams in a confidential and supportive environment. Rooted in ancestral traditions, this event invites participants to connect deeply with one another through storytelling and collective reflection. Exhibition curator Fabiola R. Delgado and facilitator Inés Sanchez will guide participants through prompts and open discussion, providing support as we explore how dreams influence our realities and how to channel them into purposeful action. As a gift, each participant will receive an exclusive dream care package to continue nurturing their journey. Proceeds from this experience will be split between Transformer and the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights.
"To Dream con los cuerpos" by Fabiola Delgado public opening and reception
Dreams can bridge the divide between what is known and what is imagined, connecting the tangible and intangible threads of our experiences. They’re shaped by ancestral memory, cultural imprints, yearnings, and subconscious dialogues, carrying whispers of the past and gesturing glimpses of the future.
When I lived in Venezuela, I dreamed every night—vivid, often premonitory dreams that felt like a second reality. They vanished when I moved to the U.S., revealing how shifts in environment and belonging can alter our inner worlds. This exhibition reflects on dreams as realities we imagine, pursue, inhabit, and, at times, lose.
Through the works of six Latinx artists engaging with themes of memory, transience, identity, and futurity, To dream con los cuerpos delves into dreams as both literal and metaphorical spaces, asking how they anchor us to our heritage, open portals to transformation, and illuminate the mutable, ephemeral nature of life itself.
To dream con los cuerpos invites viewers to reflect on the power of dreams to shape our perceptions, connect us to cultural inheritance, and imagine futures. It asks: What happens when we lose the ability to dream? And how can art help us reclaim these realms?
"Material Defects" Interactive ‘Exquisite Corpse’ AI Discussion
Join artist Jeff Herrity in a guided discussion and exercise that examines who holds the "creative power" when using AI as an artistic tool.
HeartBreakers Ball: A Gothic Romance
Join Transformer for a counter-culture celebration of free creative expression inspired by all things Goth. Featuring dark & stormy drink specials, occult parlor games, and glamorously melancholic performances from the haus of bambi & Pussy Noir.
Channel your inner Byron, Brontë, Bauhaus & my bloody valentine. The Best Dressed Goth of the night will win an artwork of their choice from Transformer’s FlatFiles, which will be presented throughout the event.
Love may tear us apart, but art will bring us together. Come join us!
Transcendence Benefit Gala
It’s the HOTTEST art event in Washington, DC! Join us for Transformer’s 20th Annual Benefit Gala presented as part of Transcendence! BUY TICKETS HERE!
Transcendence Artist Spotlights
Meet and learn about the artwork of select artists of Transcendence a week before the bidding closes!
Transcendence Curatorial Walkthrough
Join Transcendence co-curators Victoria Reis and Jennifer Sakai for a special walk through of the exhibition at American University’s Katzen Arts Center on the opening day! Program is free & open to the public.
Political Advertisement 1952-2024 Film Screening
In collaboration with artists & film makers Antoni Muntadas and Marshall Reese, Transformer will be co-presenting a screening of Political Advertisement 1952-2024 at Busboys & Poets (450 K St. NW, Washington DC).
For 40 years, Antoni Muntadas and Marshall Reese have been compiling a video history of presidential campaign spots that follows the evolution of political advertising from its beginnings in 1952 to the present. When the artists started this project in 1984, acquiring broadcast political ads required exhaustive research in archives and often involved personal contact with the candidate’s campaigns, not as easy as today’s internet click and download.
The feature length video is a personal vision of how politics and politicians are shaped and presented through the moving image. Political Advertisement is an engaging critique, without voiceover commentary, highlighting how campaign ads manipulate public perception and affect voter behavior.
“Tonally, the film is a perfect hybrid of its creators’ sensibilities. It’s funny and nostalgic, and has an innocent quality, while at the same time offering a bleak view of a specifically American form of propaganda, born in 1952, that has grown to shape our political process — not just the way we sell our politicians but the nature of the political discourse itself.” – John Seabrook, The New Yorker
The experience is an historical stream of consciousness showcasing the political and technological histories of presidential candidates and the broadcast moving image. The video illustrates how advertising strategies have changed from television’s early days into sophisticated media campaigns based on projections of fear, prejudice and emotional triggers. Political Advertisement stands as an important work of media art merging cultural critique with historical documentation prompting viewers to consider the role of media in politics and its effects on democracy.
Public Performance by Ada Pinkston
Experience a special performance art piece by Ada Pinkston in Logan Circle Park. Presented as part of Pinkston’s current exhibition at Transformer: I’m Not Your Superwoman. Program free & open to the public.
Democracy on Parade through Logan Circle
Join Transformer and Pointless Theater for a Parade through Logan Circle.
Democracy on Parade: Puppetry Manipulation
Join us for a workshop to learn how to manipulate puppets created for this program.
Democracy on Parade: Community Build Day 2
Community Build days serve as construction days, where community members can come in and help with the construction of the ideas crafted in the Introduction to Puppetry and Pageantry as a Storytelling Device workshop.
Democracy on Parade: Community Build Day 1
Community Build days serve as construction days, where community members can come in and help with the construction of the ideas crafted in the Introduction to Puppetry and Pageantry as a Storytelling Device workshop.
Democracy on Parade: Introduction to Puppetry and Pageantry as a Storytelling Device
This workshop serves as an introduction to the group of artists to the community. Stop by this brainstorming session to help us create ideas about what kinds of images/ puppets the community would like to see built.
Democracy on Parade Opening Day Open House
Join us at Transformer to celebrate the opening of Democracy on Parade.
Zoom Panel on Queer Speculation with Jaimes Mayhew, Alexis Lothian, and Kalima Young
Join us for a conversation about queer speculation, queer histories and the possibilities of that speculation creates with Dr. Alexis Lothian, Associate Professor at University of Maryland and author of Old Futures: Speculative Fiction and Queer Possibility and Dr. Kalima Young, Assistant Professor at Towson University, author of Mediated Misogynoir: The Erasure of Black Women and Girls’ Pain the Public Imagination, and A Different Horizon Atlas collaborator. Join using this Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89608493780
Creatures Festival: A Collaboration with Playhaus
Join Transformer staff at Playhaus’s inaugural block party in the plaza of Union Market. FlatFiles will be presented & sold among local artists, musicians, performances, retail activations, food, and drinks.
E21 Artist Talk
Join Jaimes Mayhew and the E21 cohort to hear more about each artist, their map, and the inspiration behind it. Via Zoom. Join using this Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86342879515
Artists Sustaining Artists 2024 Opening Reception
Transformer is proud to present the 2nd iteration of Artists Sustaining Artists, an initiative created with mid-career and established artists to provide honoraria support to their emerging artist peers. Join us for the opening reception hosted by TTR Sotheby’s International Realty.
4809 Bethesda Ave. Bethesda, MD
Pride Parade Art Build with Jaimes Mayhew
Join Jaimes Mayhew in creating posters, costumes, and more to bring to the Capital Pride Parade, and rock all month long. Poster making materials provided while supplies last.
Opening day of A Different Horizon Atlas Artist Talk
Opening day of A Different Horizon Atlas Artist talk with Jaimes Mayhew and Victoria Reis.
Collector's View
Hosted by Wilfried Zeisler & Jerome Lamy (Mount Pleasant)
Thursday, May 23, 6-8pm
Collector's View
Hosted by Tim Ehrlich and Christian Clesi | U St Corridor NW, DC
Thursday, May 16, 6-8pm
Collector's View
Hosted by The Honorable Ann Brown | Forest Hills, DC
Thursday, May 9, 6-8pm
Collector's View
Hosted by Elise Hoffmann & Chris Niemczewski | Chevy Chase, MD
Thursday, April 25, 6-8pm