HISTORY
Transformer was founded in 2002 by artists & arts organizers to support underserved emerging visual artists and grow audience engagement with experimental visual arts practices.
Headquartered since our inception within a unique storefront exhibition space in the heart of DC’s Logan Circle, Transformer has a proven track record of supporting broad and inclusive communities of artists reflecting a diversity of economic, social, ethnic, racial and cultural backgrounds, genders and sexual orientations.
Transformer is a widely recognized and trusted colleague within the contemporary arts field, supporting artists within local, regional, national, and international contexts. We provide artists meaningful forums for dialogue and connection with peers and mentors to advance their creative and professional development.
Amanda Kleinman, Transformers, 2004.
“Transformer has achieved a legacy of artistic and organizational excellence within the contemporary arts field, substantially impacting cultural dialogue within Washington, DC and beyond.”
– James Alefantis, Transformer Board President
COMMITTED TO BEST PRACTICES WITHIN THE CONTEMPORARY NON-PROFIT ARTS FIELD
Transformer is W.A.G.E certified going above and beyond industry standards to provide top level support directly to artists, including:
Equitable Honoraria for exhibiting artists based on national artist-initiated scales of support
70% commission on artworks sales
Material, travel, install, documentation support
Marketing & professional development
Engagement with arts critics, press, and collectors
Continued career advancement, including recommendations for grants, residencies, and MFA programs, and connection to curators, commercial galleries, museums, and collectors.
PARTNERS
LOCAL, NATIONAL, & INTERNATIONAL
PARTNERS HAVE INCLUDED:
(e)merge art fair
American University Katzen Arts Center
Animals & Fire
Art House Co-op
Art Museum of the Americas of the OAS
Artist Curated Projects, Los Angeles, CA
Artspace DC
The Asbury Hotel
Black Whiskey
blank projects, Cape Town, South Africa
Bread for the City
Brooklyn Community Supported Art + Design, Brooklyn, NY
Cannonball, Miami, FL
The Cell Project Space, London, England
Church of the Rapture
The Company, Los Angeles, CA
The Corcoran School of Art & Design
The Corner at Whitman Walker
DANDANS
The DC Library Foundation
Deutscher Kuenstlerbund, Berlin, German
Dischord
DS4SI
The Embassy of Australia in Washington, DC
Embassy of Colombia in the United States
Embassy of Denmark - Washington, DC
Embassy of France - Washington, DC
Embassy of Greece in Washington
Embassy of Italy - Washington, DC
Embassy of Mexico in Washington, DC
Embassy of Spain in the United States
Embassy of Sweden - Washington, DC
Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany
Eve Mosher, Seeding the City
Fathom Creative/Gallery
The Floating Lab Collective
Franklin Furnace
Garash Galeria
The George Washington University Museum & The Textile Museum
Girls Rock! DC
The Goethe Institut
Goethe-Institut, Johannesburg
The Golden Triangle Bid
Green Papaya Art Projects, Quezon City, Philippines
Heineman Myers Contemporary Art
Hill Prince
Hillyer Art Space
The Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden
Homeward Trails
InCUBATE
J Mandle Performance
The LINE DC
Logan Circle Main Streets / District Bridges
Logan Hardware
The Mexican Cultural Institute
Mexican Cultural Institute
Miss Pixie's
N Street Village
Pelican Bomb, New Orleans
Pepco's Edison Place Gallery
The Phillips Collection
The Pink Line Project
Platform Projects
Pleasant Plains Workshop
Printed Matter, Inc.
Sala Diaz
Sala Uno
Septime Webre & The Washington Ballet
Share A Seed / SlowFoodDC
Shigeko Bork mu projects
Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art
Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian
Spring/Break Art Fair
Superfine! Art Fair
Threewalls, Chicago
TrashPass
The Ullens Center for Contemporary Art
Up Top Acres
Uptown Art House
Visual Aids
Wunderbar Together
X-initiative
SUPPORTERS
Transformer’s 2024/25 Exhibition Series and programs are supported by:
Bloomberg Philanthropies
The Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation
Corcoran Women’s Committee
The CrossCurrents Foundation
The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities/NEA
The Robert Lehman Foundation
The Sachiko Kuno Foundation
The National Endowment for the Visual Arts
Truist Foundation
The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts
Transformer's Board and Advisory Council
and The Visionary Leaders Circle– a growing group of individual donors & corporate sponsors.
Thank You!
ARCHIVES
ARTISTS + TRANSFORMER | Produced 2018
In celebration of Transformer's 15th Annual Silent Auction & Benefit Party on November 17, 2018, artists from Transformer's past, present, and future discuss their art practices and the role Transformer has played in their work and the art community at large.
Video featuring interviews with Amy Hughes Braden, Maps Glover, Rex Delafkaran, David Ibata, Carolina Mayorga, Joseph Orzal, Johab Silva, Naoko Wowsugi, and Georgie Payne, Exhibitions & Programs Manager at Transformer. Performances by Maps Glover, Khari Malik, Sifu Sun & guests.
Produced in partnership with 2018 Auction Media Sponsor, Brightest Young Things. Video & Editing by William Sarmiento.
ABOUT TRANSFORMER
Produced 2014 | Transformer Archives