If you happen to be on the mailing list for Artomatic, precisely 3,000 emails have told you that the five-week, eight-floor exhibition opens on Friday. Keep an eye out tomorrow, as we’ll be headed to the pre-opening walk-through and will have a preview of the whole shebang for you in the afternoon. The gates officially open at noon at Capital Plaza I, 1200 First St NE, near the New York Avenue Metro. All events and exhibits are free.

>> Our must-see this weekend: Lighting to Unite at the National Cathedral. The entire building will be lit up with projections of brightly colored images by Swiss artist Gerry Hofstetter (who has also done this on friggin’ Antarctic icebergs and Egyptian pyramids!) from sunset to midnight, Friday through Sunday. On Saturday, catch a live musical performance starting at 7 p.m. Picnics encouraged and on-site parking is free; check out the web site for more information.

>> Two fascinating shows are set to open at Civilian Art Projects tomorrow. Jason Zimmerman shows artistic grasp of all kinds of media in Feel better, longer, treading on utopian-esque themes where the artificial may be substituted for the natural, and asking if it matters. In the project space, Miami-based artist Jen Stark shows her mastery with complex patterns cut into paper. One sculpture features, literally, a million cut pieces of paper. Check them both out at the opening reception, 7 to 9 p.m.

>> Transformer takes over a stretch of Northwest this weekend. The gallery opens Here & Now, featuring site-specific installations by 17 artists both in the gallery, and down the street in the three floors of open commercial space at 1840 14th Street NW (look for the big “Here & Now” scrawled on the building). The exhibit focuses on “place, time, fragility, security and fantasy.” Join an artist conversation at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday at Transformer, and a performance by artist Paul Shoemaker at the 1840 building. See the web site for more events during the run of the exhibit.