American University’s summer shows can’t be missed, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival is back, and more.

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…

An automotive showroom for the R.L. Taylor Motor Company, a restaurant supplies retailer under Adams-Burch, and a Pentecostal chapel with the Church of the Rapture—the building that occupies the southwest corner of 14th and T Streets NW has served many people in many ways. Its most recent and perhaps improbable career turn—as a guerrilla art space hidden in the heart of one of D.C.’s fastest-rising commercial corridors—came to a close on Saturday. Citing improper permits…

This evening, Transformer Gallery will be hosting a series of performances collected by artist Fereshteh Toosi to kick off her new exhibit, You’re not as green as you are cabbage looking. This show closes out the month-long Exercises for Emerging Artists, curated by Victoria Reis and Niels Van Tomme. Toosi’s work of late is part performance, part interview, and part soda jerk. She asks people questions related to a topical issue or current event. “They…

Now’s the time to get your ticket to the Third Annual Transformer Silent Auction and Benefit Party. Held on Saturday, November 4, at the Edison Place Gallery, the night promises to be an evening of creative company, great food, and a celebration of local talent. The five-year-old Transformer Gallery is hosting the event, which will start with a silent auction between 7 and 9:30 p.m. for original works from over eighty artists. Step up and…

DCist is happy to share news this week of area events and exhibits by our fellow bloggers. First off, Lenny Campello of DC Art News, opens a show of his recent drawings on Friday at the Georgetown Fraser Gallery. There’s a reception for the show that night from 6-9 p.m. A drawing from the exhibit is shown at right. >> Frank Warren is still sharing secrets people send him in the mail on his…

>> Hometown artist and color field innovator Sam Gilliam’s work is everywhere this month. A sizable inventory of pieces were hung last Friday at the Marsha Mateyka Gallery, and a retrospective is due to open at the Corcoran Gallery of Art this Saturday. >> It’s your last week to catch Jason Zimmerman’s video installation at Transformer Gallery, titled Fair Game. Zimmerman’s looping edit of scenes from the FOX show Cops is one of those cases…

>> Numerous galleries in the 14th Street corridor have opened new exhibits over the last week. Curator’s Office opened a new exhibit of drawings by Korean-born Jiha Moon last week. Moon’s colorful, kaleidoscopic work reflects her training in both American and Korean artistic traditions and combines elements of folklore and pop culture. >> Meanwhile, Transformer Gallery has launched its fourth season with a more cutting-edge exhibit of video work. “Fair Game,” the first solo exhibit…

>> Transformer Gallery opened a new exhibition recently. “E2: Carving a Path” showcases the work of Djakarta, Ginger Farnham, and Nathan Manuel, 2nd year participants of The Exercises for Emerging Artists, a peer critique and mentorship program at Transformer. >> “Current Evince: Selected Prints by William T. Wiley from the Smithsonian American Art Museum” also opened recently, at the Corcoran. The exhibit features 40 prints from a collection donated to the SAAM in 2003….