Two years ago, artist Devan Shimoyama created an exhibit Sweet at New York’s De Buck gallery, where he showed his 2D paintings of an inclusive, fantastical barbershop. Starting on Saturday, his vision is coming to life in 3D in D.C., complete with glitter, bright orange paint, fake flowers, and—most importantly—a welcoming vibe.

The Barbershop Project is the latest art piece taking up residence inside the Mobile Art Gallery from CulturalDC, which will be parked at THEARC in Southeast, near the Southern Avenue Metro station. Inside the shipping container-turned-gallery, artist Devan Shimoyama has designed a “fantastical, whimsical space,” as he puts it, inspired by black barbershops he’s patronized in his life. The barbershop is outfitted with two working barber stations, where two professionals will give free barbershop-style cuts throughout the run of the exhibit. Kelly Gorsuch, owner of several D.C. salons including Immortal Beloved and Barber of Hell’s Bottom, is managing the functional aspect of the barbershop.

One significant way this space departs from the black barbershops Shimoyama grew up visiting (besides all the glitter) is the way he’s designed it to be inclusive. The black barbershop has long been a symbol of fraternal bonding among black men, a safe space where many men can gather and find community. Author Quincy Mills, who wrote the book Cutting Along the Color Line: Black Barbers and Barber Shops in America, said barbershops “hold significant places within black communities,” in an interview on The Kojo Nnamdi Show in 2014. “It’s a space where black men can go and talk. … These are spaces of commerce, of community, of culture and of congregation.”

But Shimoyama says he hasn’t found it to be welcoming to everyone.

“A lot of the times when I went to these spaces, it’s not necessarily welcome to, you know, to queer bodies, to femme bodies,” Shimoyama says. “I’ve seen people be treated quite poorly for their gender expression or their sexuality. … But also, [I’ve seen] a lot of microaggressions.” As an example, he says he once visited a barbershop where Eddie Murphy’s standup routine in which the comedian repeatedly uses a homophobic slur was playing on a TV.

His immersive art inside The Barbershop Project, titled Mighty Mighty, is meant to be both familiar to patrons of barbershops, but also to depart from that imagery. There’s black and white tile on the floors and swiveling barber chairs, sure, but there’s also groovy rhinestone-studded custom-made furniture from D.C.-based designer Caleb Woodard,and citrus-colored flowers lining the mirrors. Shimoyama’s own psychedelic collage-painting hybrid works, which depict figures getting haircuts, line the walls. It looks something like a salon in a Tim Burton movie set in the future.

Shimoyama has also drawn from his personal life for some of the shop’s design elements. The wood paneling, for example, is inspired by his grandparents’ basement. “[That’s] where my uncle would cut my hair, so I didn’t have to go to the barber shop, because sometimes I just really felt unwelcome in the spaces,” he says.

Until this week, Shimoyama has been creating the pieces of Mighty Mighty in his Pittsburgh studio for about two to three months. Just as important as creating the shop’s aesthetic was curating its atmosphere. He says he’s talked to Gorsuch about his own experiences in barbershops and about his vision for a more inclusive space.

“There’s a level of intimacy in receiving a haircut,” Shimoyama says. “A lot of time, queer people in those spaces feel the need to kind of closet themselves in order to receive a proper haircut without sort of inciting any kind of discomfort with a barber.”

He hasn’t given barbers any specific script or instructions, but says all the barbers “are aware of what the environment is and what this project is about at its core.” Haircuts will be given out on a first come, first served basis for certain hours during the exhibit’s run. Patrons will be able to sign up with an iPad stationed at the shop’s entrance. The exhibit and the free haircuts kick off Saturday with a community event. Christylez Bacon and the East of the River Steel Band are among the performers set to appear.

Shimoyama has been in D.C. for nearly a week installing the piece in the Mobile Art Gallery, and he says he’s particularly excited to see so many children around THEARC. He hopes they are drawn to the futuristic-fantasy space of Mighty Mighty.

“It’s a highly trafficked area and a community that’s predominantly black,” he says. “Young people I think, are the most important to really start with. And so a lot of this work, I want it to feel fun and exciting and feel like you’re walking into … another dimension or something.”

The Barbershop Project featuring Devan Shimoyama’s Mighty Mighty runs at the Mobile Art Gallery at THEARC from Saturday-August 24. Open Tuesdays-Fridays 11 a.m.-7 p.m., Saturdays 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Barbers will be giving haircuts Tuesdays-Fridays 3 p.m.-7 p.m. and Saturdays 10 a.m.-2 p.m. and 4 p.m.-8 p.m. FREE.