D.C. area art lovers will hate to admit it, but we secretly know there’s a shred of truth to that cringeworthy criticism, “Well, it’s not New York.” Despite our fantastic system of museums rivaled by none and a popular contemporary gallery scene, we’re still missing that…something. According to Philippa Hughes, that something is the interaction of an underground art scene — events that exist solely for the purpose of bringing people together under one roof to experience art. Bad art, good art, whatever. It’s not the point. Sending people away thinking is the real goal.

And Hughes’ goal is to bring that scene to us. Another one of those enviable lawyer-turned-(insert awesome job) stories, in this case, art event planner, she’s spent most of the past year cultivating her Pink Line Project, which “fosters intellectual and artistic innovation through programs and events that are fueled by the transformative power of art.” You may have stopped by any number of Pink Line sponsored events, almost always a collaboration with other local art orgs, and you’re bound to see her imprint on the arts scene even more in the next year.

In fact, you can catch some of her handiwork this week during Performance Week at Meat Market Gallery. The collaborative project brings together, yes, performance art of all kinds for a free-for-all “exhibit” that could involve just about anything. Hughes freely admits, “Who knows, it could be fantastic, it might even be really bad, but the point is just to go and experience it and enjoy the creativity of a type of art we don’t get enough of in D.C.” Performances continue tonight and Friday from 6 to 8 p.m., Saturday from 12 to 2 p.m., and closes that night with a big party (and more performances) from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m.

DCist spoke with Hughes twice; once at the end of last year as Pink Line had just wrapped up another successful event, and again last week as Hughes came to a few new year’s realizations about how she sees her projects fitting into the city’s art scene.