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PROGRAMS

Image from Itsy Bitsy Bollocks (Mar-Apr 2006)

Founded in 2002, Transformer is a Washington, DC based 501 (c) 3 non-profit, visual arts organization that connects and promotes emerging artists through exhibitions, programs, and other initiatives designed to help foster their creativity and advance their careers. A catalyst and advocate for emergent expression in the visuals arts, Transformer is building community by developing partnerships and collaborations with artists and organizations locally, nationally, and internationally.

Now in our seventh year of operations, Transformer is recognized as an important contemporary arts cultivator and access point to experience “the contemporary art and artists of tomorrow, defined in unexpected ways today.” Building upon previous successes, Transformer is continually working to better meet the needs of its constituents through innovative exhibitions and the development of educational programs.

Through these efforts, Transformer is building a broad network of support for emerging artists, their ideas and work, and advancing contemporary art dialogue within Washington, DC and beyond.

Transformer accomplishes our mission by:

Presenting six, five-week long engaging and professional exhibitions, shorter term projects and public programs in our project space, as well as in off-site venues, annually;
Facilitating collaboration with artists, curators, educators, arts professionals, other art spaces and cultural institutions in the development and presentation of exhibitions and programs;
Convening informative community panel discussions on topics that further contemporary art dialogue, are relevant to artists’ development, and educate audiences;
Facilitating meaningful programming designed to build artists professional development, encourage their ideas and craft, gain exposure to the community, and grow their own network of support that will sustain them for the long-term;
And through our internship program, educational initiatives, artist talks and other forums for dialogue, educating new leaders and professionals in the local community to support artists and become stronger arts advocates.

Transformer’s programs are designed to support artists on many levels: in addition to presenting work through professional and engaging exhibitions, artists participate in community panel discussions, peer critique, portfolio review, and other open forums for dialogue and connection with peers and mentors. Part of a growing network of artist-centered spaces whose missions’ focus on process, partnership, and professionalism in presenting cutting edge visual art, Transformer is continually engaged in national and international forums on best practices within the field designed to assist artists and the organizations that support them.

At Transformer, artists are the core of our mission and are supported in all aspects of their work. In addition to our Exhibition Series, programs like the Exercises for Emerging Artists and the Framework Panel Series provide on-going mentorship to artists while also developing audience and growing the community of support for artists and their work. Transformer also assists emerging arts groups, co-ops, collectives, curators and individual artists in providing temporal exhibition space for short-term projects, as well as providing professional development advice, curatorial input, and program development.

Seeking to build a broad platform for emerging artists and their work, Transformer is also growing programs such as the FlatFile, as well as our Public Projects. Often presented in collaboration with other arts groups, galleries, or larger cultural entities, these programs provide participating artists the opportunity to exhibit their work outside our project space, furthering our mission of expanding the network of support for artists and their work.

Transformer is also developing a new initiative, Sparkplug, that will educate children and students about alternative art spaces and non-profits like Transformer, and our role in the larger arts landscape, as well as sharing with them the work of the artists we support.