DC’s Public Library presents
DIY in the DISTRICT
Exhibit Dates: October 4—December 7, 2025
Exhibit Location: MLK Library, Great Hall
Artist-run. Homegrown. Non-commercial. Multimedia. Experimental. A D.I.Y. (Do It Yourself) art space is usually all of these things - and yet no single definition applies to all.
This exhibition is produced by the DC Public Library Exhibits team in collaboration with Rhizome DC and many partners. It celebrates the artist-run and D.I.Y. arts scene from around 1970 to the present day. It is a tribute to DC Public Library archivist Ray Barker (1969-2024) who conducted a series of more than thirty oral histories of D.C. Art Spaces on behalf of the library, now preserved online in DigDC. Transformer is honored to have archival ephemera from our 23 years of operations as well as a oral history video featured in the exhibition!
D.I.Y. in the District x Transformer FLATFILE POPUP
Saturday, November 1, 2025
In conjunction with the exhibition D.I.Y. in the District: Celebrating D.C.'s Artist-Run Spaces, join us for a day of artist-driven programming at the MLK Library curated by artist Maps Glover.
Schedule of events:
11:00 a.m. DC Zinefest starts, Floor 4 and 5 - visit event page for details
12:00 - 4:00 pm Pop-Up Transformer FlatFile sale in the Great Hall
1:00 PM – 2:00 PM: Meet & Greet with Transformer: Chat with Transformer staff, see special video footage from the archives
2:00 PM – 5:00 PM: Durational Transformer performance, The Beaches that Bind featuring Maps Glover and Sifu Sun
