Yesterday you read that the city shut down the "Here & Now" exhibition without giving artists the opportunity to retrieve their work before the doors were locked.

One person out there was angry enough to pick up the phone—not to call the city or the gallery or the developer, but to alert the Humane Society to the fact that goldfish were trapped inside. The caller pleaded for intervention on behalf of the fish, which were swimming in wall-mounted half-globes backed with photos from various sites around the city.

Intervene, the Humane Society did. They called the D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) and asked that someone be let in to rescue the little swimmers. Earlier this afternoon, representatives from Transformer Gallery and the developer, Four Points LLC, met with artist Kate Hardy and DCRA officials for an in-and-out operation. Twenty fish made it outta there; the rest, which numbered upwards of 100 at the beginning of the show (some died before the show was even closed), we mourn.

"We appreciate Four Points' support in helping us to recover the goldfish from the 1840 14th Street NW space, and look forward to the safe removal of the remaining artwork as soon as is legally possible," said Transformer director Victoria Reis in a statement.

DCRA officials are scheduled to tour the space tomorrow—for the time being, the rest of the art is trapped behind red tape.

Photo by yospyn