Detail of Heirlooms Installation by Lauren Rice.

>> Artist Lauren Rice installs her take on good and evil, love and hate and the fear of and fixation with death in Heirlooms, opening at Transformer. See her gallery-wide installation that is both floral and decorative — created from window screens, newspaper, phone book pages, spray paint and glue — and is more like kudzu than a well-tended garden. Open house Saturday 1 to 7 p.m., with an artist talk at 2 p.m.

>> Learn a little German and a little about Germany in the process. Germany for Beginners is a fun and interactive exhibit of the alphabet where each letter is an individual sculpture and represents a German word. Opening reception Tuesday, 6 p.m. at the Goethe-Institut.

>> Drive By at Project 4 Gallery features six artists whose drawings, paintings, collages and video art offer unexpected insight into the common scenes we observe while moving through the structures of an urban and suburban landscape. Opening reception Saturday, 6:30 p.m.

>> Thursday at the Chilean Embassy, artist Yayo Tavolara presents a multimedia exhibit that explores her view on life. Dermolition opens Thursday at 6:30 p.m. RSVP here.

>> Excellence in Printmaking is an exhibit that encourages emerging printmakers and the use of traditional, non-digital techniques. Prizes will be awarded to three works created by outstanding student printmakers from within the exhibition. Opening reception Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m. at Washington Print Makers.

>> On the Road features ten artists who work in the world, away from the gallery or studio environments. Many of their projects are created in temporary residencies, and explore tourism, informal public spaces and nomadic peoples. Opening reception Friday, 7 p.m. at the Arlington Arts Center.

>> The Carroll Square Gallery hosts Open Source, an exhibit reflecting the collective resource base from which the students and faculty at George Mason University’s School of Art approach the inspiration, inquiry and methodology that brings ideas into form. Opening reception Friday from 6 to 8 p.m.