Exhibit runs July 18 - August 2
Reception: Sunday July 26, 5-7pm
Open during all events, or email us to schedule a different time to view

Smatters - A 35mm photography exhibition by Eleanor Olson featuring a collection of candid images shot between December 2025 - June 2026.

Wednesday July 29 * 7pm * $15 * TICKETS

Drew Davis - Drew Davis of Crazy Doberman plays in solo mode. He has collaborated with Zach Rowden, Rodger Stella, Tim Gick, Kyle Flanagan, John Olson and many, many more.

Ben “Baby” Copperhead is the snake-bitten moniker of NYC-based multi-instrumentalist and vocalist whose compositions, performances, and arrangements offer a unique, contemporary vision informed by an unlikely range of influences, traditions, and collaborations. Copperhead expresses his folk roots through his “otherworldly” banjo style using modal and tonal explorations, while sometimes using samplers, processed drum machines, tape loops, and handmade electronic instruments inspired by the experimentalism of Musique Concrète. Longtime collaborator, David Menestres, will be joining Copperhead on double bass.

Brick Digest presents "Fort Lincoln" - Come learn about the history of the unrealized Fort Lincoln "New Town" development in Washington, DC. The mastermind behind Brick Digest will share the story of what could have been in Northeast DC.

Thursday July 30 * doors at 7, show at 7:30 * $15-25 * TICKETS

Trace Amount is the solo project of Brooklyn-based producer, vocalist, and visual artist, Brandon Gallagher. The sound is a harsh strain of industrial music, evoking apocalyptic dread through primal rhythms, layers of synth and noise, and Gallagher's distorted moans and screams.

Pennsylvania’s own darkwave enigma, LUNACY transmits from the edge of ruin, fusing cinematic post-punk, industrial pulse, and spectral noise into a sound both ancient and futuristic. Their music explores the shadowy corners of the human psyche, echoing themes of collapse and catharsis through powerful synths and analog drum machines.

S Y Z Y G Y X has been active for several years now. Last year, she released her fourth full-length album on Cold Transmission Music. “Sinner” picks up the thread of the previous work, yet undoubtedly stands out as the most personal. Deeply human themes form the guiding principle of a sound that once again positions itself between Electro / Pop-Wave and EBM.

Serpent Hologram is an improv electro industrial duo born of the eternal transmutive autophagy of the Ouroboros.

Friday July 31 * doors at 7, music at 7:30 * $15-25 * TICKETS

Grex is an experimental music duo based out of Oakland, California. In biological terms, a "grex" is an entity composed of several smaller organisms. Grex (the band) explores the meeting point between surreal songcraft and the dark outer reaches of free jazz, industrial hip-hop, and art rock. The group has been called an "otherworldly experience" (Eugene Weekly) and "true genre warping music" (KFJC), recalling at turns the ecstatic energy of John Coltrane, the electronic squall of Death Grips, and the lilting songwriting of Mitski.

Lesley Mok is a New York City-based percussionist and sound artist. Their work is guided by a continual search for the connection between the mundane and the divine, the experience and manipulation of time, and a desire to capture emotional dissonance and complexity. Lesley’s ongoing explorations with composition and improvisation are most notably documented in their debut album The Living Collection(released May 2023 on American Dreams Records). The album, described as “an exquisite and stimulating work” by All About Jazz and “a singularly personal statement” by Jazz Trail Magazine, was named International Debut Album of the Year at the 2024 Deutscher Jazz Preis. As a collaborator, Lesley has shared the stage with Tomeka Reid, William Parker, Ingrid Laubrock, Marilyn Crispell, Craig Taborn, Myra Melford, Mary Halvorson, and Rafiq Bhatia among others.

Embroidered Bird blends simple acoustic based songs with analog sound experiments using mostly analog synthesizers, cassette tape loops, and thrift store instrument finds.

Saturday August 1 * 1pm * $5 suggested * REGISTER

Live Action Role Play is a combination of improv, theater, physical movement, crafts, and just about any genre of story you can think of! All are welcome to these 2-hour LARPs hosted at Rhizome DC, whether you're completely new to the artform or a seasoned veteran.

On Saturday, August 1 from 1-3 pm we're playing Monumental Consequence by Mary Beth Looney, where 9-40 players become villagers in the occupied town of La Ville who face an impossible choice: destroy their centuries-old church to save lives, or risk everything to preserve the art within. This game was developed by Central Michigan University Press and can be used for fun (like we will be doing) and as an educational tool in classrooms! If you are an educator intrigued by this premise, I encourage you to come see it in action.

Exhibit runs August 1-28
Opening reception with live music by Zottoh & cannibal boom: Saturday August 1, 4-6pm
Open during all events, or email us to schedule a different time to view

Zottoh is the solo project of Santiago Soto, focused on sound works built through electric guitar feedback and spatial amplification systems, where the surrounding environment becomes part of the instrument itself.

In this configuration, a guitar is suspended within a metal frame, held in place by tensioned steel cables. The surrounding structure functions as an environment that both supports and stresses it. Transducers fed by external sources as well as by the guitar’s own signal excite the entire structure, setting both frame and instrument into vibration. Sound, captured through the guitar’s own pickups, is reintroduced into the space through speakers and transducers, activating a continuous loop of airborne and structural feedback. In this way, sound appears both self-inflicted and as a response to its environment.

Conceived as a self-portrait, the piece does not represent appearance but condition. The suspended guitar becomes a surrogate body—held together by the same forces that strain to pull it apart. During the opening, the work is performed using synthesizers and external processing; during the exhibition period, it remains open to visitor interaction through a simplified interface that excites the structure directly, without amplification.

Exhibit runs August 1-28
Opening reception with live music by cannibal boom & Zottoh: Saturday August 1, 4-6pm
Open during all events, or email us to schedule a different time to view

what is the sound of the tears of a clown?

reishin norberto gómez jr (born 1983, Alice, Texas, USA) is an artist, writer, publisher, curator, and educator based in Washington, D.C. Their work engages the interstices and chasms of death, spirituality, and technology, along with aesthetics, horror, media studies, and popular culture. They are the co-founder and editor of Sybil Press (est. 2013), an independent publisher of zines, art books, and experimental print media. Sybil Press has participated in print, art book, and zine fairs across the U.S. and internationally, including Printed Matter’s LA Art Book Fair, Boston Art Book Fair, Tokyo Art Book Fair, and Vancouver Art Book Fair.

Saturday August 1 * 7pm * $10/15 advance, $20 at the door * TICKETS

BIG CITY PRESENTS
CITY SPOTLIGHT: ECHOES OF DOUBT

SHY RASHEEN

OPEN MIC
ARTIST SHOWCASE
CITY CYPHER
LIVE PERFORMANCES
VENDORS

ARTIST SHOWCASE (LIMITED SLOTS) 1ST COME 1ST SERVED

PROOF OF LIFE

Saturday August 1 * 7pm * OFFSITE at Tonal Park * $15-30 * TICKETS

At Tonal Park Studios. Tonal Park is at 7014-C Westmoreland Ave, Takoma Park, MD. Enter through the WOWD entrance at 7014-B. Any questions, email info@rhizomedc.org; please don’t contact Tonal Park.

Keith Fullerton Whitman is a Composer & Performer of Live Electronic Music currently living in Brooklyn.

Guitarist Bill Nace’s experimental improvisations and compositions extend the boundaries of electric guitar technique, using bows, metal, wood, glass bowls, and other implements. His distinctive musical vocabulary references folk, rock, and punk traditions as he works to make a ubiquitous instrument sound new.

Deli Philosophers is a new duo of Brian Weitz (Geologist, Animal Collective) and Michael R. Bernstein (Double Leopards, Religious Knives). They'll be premiering their new group at this performance.

Sundays August 2 and September 6 * $20 suggested * REGISTER

Learning crochet and don't know what to make next? Join us for a two-part class exploring how to crochet granny squares, a versatile crochet shape that can be repeated and assembled into a useful tote bag. All supplies provided. No experience necessary. 

In part 1, we will learn how to make a granny square in one or multiple colors, and we will begin our granny square bag.

In part 2, we will troubleshoot challenges with making granny squares, and we will learn how to assemble the squares into a tote bag. 

Part 1: Sunday August 2nd, 11 AM - 12:30 PM
Part 2: Sunday September 6th 11 AM - 12:30 PM
Price: Pay what you like, recommended $20
Questions? Email swamp.rose.studio@proton.me

Sunday August 2 * 6pm * $10-15 * TICKETS

Green Fields, Grine Felder
1h 37m, 1937

"Ulmer's soulful, open-air adaptation of Peretz Hirshbein's classic play heralded the Golden Age of Yiddish cinema. When an ascetic young scholar ventures into the countryside, searching for the city of "true Jews," he learns some unexpected lessons from the Jewish peasants who take him in as a tutor for their children."

Hosted by the DMV Jewish Labor Bund

Potluck beforehand
No Yiddish skills necessary!
Discussion afterwards 
Movie is subtitled in English.

Monday August 3 * doors at 7, music at 7:30 * $15 * TICKETS

SH!TOMATO - A cacophony of noise rock, psych, trip-hop and jazz, SH!TOMATO defies easy categorization, pulling listeners into a swirling soundscape of controlled chaos and hypnotic rhythms. The record thrives on unpredictability, shifting effortlessly between distorted walls of sound, eerie downtempo beats, and moments of improvisational brilliance. At its core is one half of long-time AD mainstays Comfort Food, bringing a raw, exploratory energy, blurring the lines between structure and spontaneity.

The Peopling - The solo project of NYC to PNW transplant Ronnie Gonzalez, longtime Already Dead cohort and one half of legendary duo Video Daughters

Simmone Wrath - Baltimore experimental and digital hardcore. 

Inter Not Milan - Alternative Hip Hop ex Pain Directive

Tuesday August 4 * doors at 7, music at 8 * $10-12 * TICKETS

BLASTER
Iowa weird hardcore punk
https://blaster3.bandcamp.com/

GORF
DCHC
https://www.instagram.com/gorf.band/

BRAIN SURGERY
Maryland grinding noise punk
https://www.instagram.com/brainxsurgeryxpunk/

GIFTS UNGIVEN
DC metalcore
https://giftsungiven.bandcamp.com/

Wednesday August 5 * doors at 7pm, music at 7:30pm * $15-25 * TICKETS

Bark Culture is a trio led by vibraphonist Victor Vieira-Branco featuring drummer Joey Sullivan and bassist John Moran. With over four years of immersive collaboration, the trio is known for their strong ensemble identity, high-energy live performances and extensive touring. Their record “Warm Wisdom” was cited as the Debut Release of 2024 by New York Times Jazz Critic Hank Shteamer, and listed as Best Jazz on Bandcamp September 2024. More recently, the trio was enlisted by Rob Mazurek to perform on the soundtrack of Kelly Reichardt’s new film The Mastermind which premiered in competition at the Cannes Film Festival. For the group’s second album THE GIANT IS AWKWARD, the trio is joined by pianist and composer Sam Yulsman.

Born from a meeting of musical minds at the 2026 Washington Women in Jazz Festival, We All Witness is an avant-garde collective that brings together some of the Washington, D.C. area's most adventurous instrumentalists, featuring Amy K. Bormet, Sarah Marie Hughes, Christine Paluch, and Keith Butler Jr. The project serves as a dedicated platform for exploring the fusion of horror music and jazz.

Thursday August 6 * 7pm * $10-20 * TICKETS

Helen Hill was an experimental animator, filmmaker, educator, artist, writer and social activist who lived her last years in New Orleans, Louisiana. Featuring puppets, hand-drawn animation, found footage and hand-processing techniques, Hill's short films—including Bohemian Town (2004), Madame Winger Makes a Film: A Survival Guide for the 21st Century (2001) and Mouseholes (1999)—have been screened at festivals all over the world. She is also the author of a lavishly illustrated and self-published book called Recipes for Disaster which compiles techniques for hand-processing film.

Tragically, Helen Hill was murdered by a random intruder in her New Orleans home in the early morning of January 4, 2007, one of six murders in New Orleans in a single twenty-four-hour period. In an extraordinary and in many ways model collaboration between Helen’s family, the Harvard Film Archive, New York University’s Moving Image Archiving and Preservation Program, Colorlab, the Orphan Film Symposium, the University of South Carolina and countless individuals, Helen Hill’s films—including shorts, animation and home movies, as well as her papers—were organized and donated by Paul Gailiunas to the Harvard Film Archive that same year. Shortly thereafter, guided by the coordination efforts of Dan Streible, ten of her films were preserved by Harvard and Colorlab.

Thanks to the Harvard Film Archive for making the screening possible.

Friday August 7 * doors at 7pm * $15-25 * TICKETS

Centigrade 2 is an electro-industrial commentary on climate change utilizing superfluous samples, haptic synths, and excessive effects.

Karacell has been performing electronic music in the southeast Virginia and Richmond area since 2009. Previously exploring a plunderphonic psych pop approach, her current music is inspired by melodic techno, acid, and shoegaze. Her performances are hardware based, featuring the live manipulation of synthesizers, samplers, and drum machines.

Syncretist - the solo project from Robert Salsbury – makes instrumental electronic music, blending melody with kosmische rhythms, hip hop beats, electro, and 90s IDM. The live set, based on the LP “Oscillated Incidents”, is propulsive and danceable with plenty of twists and turns along the way.

Diner Hours returning back home to the DMV after 19 months in Nebraska, Diner Hours (Amanda and Drew) return with oboe tinged ambient suitable for corner booths.

Secret Wilderness (DJ / live electronics set) - Jake Reid has been a long time DC area musician most known for shoegaze bands Alcian Blue and Screen Vinyl Image. Jake will provide a mix of DJing and live synths to keep music flowing between setups for the night. Expect a heady mix of ambient and techno.

Saturday August 8 * 1pm * $15-25 * REGISTER

Itching to get creative? Come dye with me! This class will cover making and dyeing with indigo, including the basics of shibori (Japanese tie-dye). You'll learn how to:-make an indigo vat-dye with indigo for long-lasting color-tie up the cloth for a variety of beautiful patterns-care for your indigo-dyed itemsEach participant will receive 1 bandana to dye with. All other materials provided. You may bring a few additional items to dye from home. Small to medium sized items with 50% or more natural fiber content work best.. In addition, wear clothing that you don't mind getting stained. Bring an apron if you wish, and rubber gloves if you have them. Instructor: Sophie Kanter: www.thebluesti.com/

Saturday August 8 * 7pm * $10-20 * TICKETS

Ammonite
Ammonite is a band from Maryland/D.C. offering dynamic live shows, fierce genre bending, eloquent songwriting, and ethereal harmonies. Queer AF.

Blackout Transmission (Santa Fe)
Blackout Transmission is a band formed in Los Angeles, CA now residing in the Mountain West that compose and play neo-psychedelic rock music with UK shoegaze and darkwave influences.

Grace A. Keller
DC-based singer/songwriter,
1/4 of hotel sewing kit

Sunday August 9 & bi-weekly * 11am * $5-10 suggested * REGISTER

How do different traditions across history and geography think about how we should live our lives? Join this community for a casual, biweekly discussion group dedicated to exploring the practical philosophies and lived wisdom of the world’s major spiritual traditions. Over the first 12 weeks, we’ll look at foundational ideas from Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Taoism, Stoicism, Shinto, Yoruba, Animism, Christianity, Islam, and some modern faiths.

This is less of a learning seminar and more of a conversational space. There are no right or wrong answers, and you don’t need any background in religious studies to participate. Come as you are, ready to chat about the ideas that jump out at you, what resonates with your own perspective, and how these philosophies might map onto our lives.

Check out the working syllabus and readings: tinyurl.com/explorefaiths

Sunday August 9 * noon-4pm * Free / donations 

HOW IT WORKS: 
1. Bring your gently used physical media 
2. Sort it out on the corresponding table 
3. Take whatever you want! Leave whatever you don’t! 

WHAT TO BRING: 
VHS tapes 
Cassette tapes 
CDs
Records 
DVDs
Zines 
Stickers + Badges 
Your defunct band’s unsold merch 
Etc ….. 

FREE event! Bring a reusable bag! Be respectful! Death to streaming!

Sunday August 9 * 7pm * $15 * TICKETS

An evening of gorenoise, noisecore, and stomach churning industrial at Rhizome. 

Degloved (RVA)

Abortion Breath (RVA)

Hydroencephalocystocele (MD)

Numbing Agent (DC)

Monday August 10 * doors at 6:30, music at 7 * $20-$30 * TICKETS

Transparent Productions presents:

An evening of music from this amazing trio of musicians from Chicago: Will Greene, Ishmael Ali, and Lily Finnegan.

WILL GREENE plays guitar and saxophone and currently resides in Chicago, after spending many years as an active member of various Brooklyn, NY music communities. His musical practice explores time-bending, pitch excursions, and interactive notions.

ISHMAEL ALI is a dynamic cellist, guitarist, improviser, and composer based out of Chicago. His work centers on exploring sound through improvisation, experimentation, composition, and collaboration, focusing on a wide array of idiomatic approaches in an ever-changing, always-growing list of projects informed by diverse influences.

LILY FINNGAN is a Chicago-based drummer, composer, improviser, and organizer. In 2026 she became a Next Jazz Legacy awardee. She was spotlighted by The Chicago Reader as a “Chicagoan of Note” and included in The Chicago Sun Times “Next Generation of Jazz Musicians.” She leads her own quartet, Heat On, which released their debut album on Cuneiform Records.

Wednesday August 12 * 7pm * $12 * TICKETS 

Sore Eyelids & Fazed Out presents …

My House Walkthrough

Abriction

Bile

Naomi 10 Million

Thursday August 13 * doors at 7, music at 7:30 * $10-15 * TICKETS

Housie (Richmond Punk)

supported by the Andy Appletree mega marathon

Saafewaay (DC Punk)

Powerband (DC RnR)

Deen Gray (DC, it's exactly what it sounds like)

Qiiiiiiik (DC Punk shortest set of all time)

Friday August 14 * doors at 7:30, music at 8 * $15-25 * TICKETS

María Grand is a saxophonist, composer, educator, and vocalist. She played and/or recorded with creative music luminaries such as Joel Ross, Mary Halvorson, Antoine Roney, Nicole Mitchell, and more. Vijay Iyer says she is “a fantastic young saxophonist, virtuosic, conceptually daring, with a lush tone, a powerful vision, and a deepening emotional resonance.”

Shakoor Hakeem is a percussionist and improviser whose work expands the role of rhythm in contemporary jazz and creative music. Rooted in Afro-diasporic traditions yet shaped by experimental practice, Hakeem approaches percussion as a tool for texture, space, and collective ritual rather than strict timekeeping. His playing emphasizes tone, restraint, and deep listening, often transforming the ensemble into a living, breathing sound environment.

Bashi Rose is a theater artist, musician, and filmmaker. He was raised in West Baltimore and was nurtured, inspired, and trained in his craft by the Baltimore Arts Community. As a musician, Bashi uses the drum-kit as a creative tool for mental/spiritual healing and as a bridge between the spirit and physical worlds. He is the co-founder of Konjur Collective, a multidisciplinary group using music, video, and spoken word to create radical, experimental, and spiritual Black art.

Saturday 9:30-5:00 & Sunday 9:30-2:00 August 15 & 16 * $110 - $210 (scholarships available) * REGISTER (or email us to register without paying large processing fees)

(option to register for one day only - email us)

Calling all writers who need time and space and no distractions! Whether you are just starting a project, thick in the middle of it, or needing to finish it, come spend one and a half days with other writers at Rhizome DC. You will have your own table and space to throw papers and books on the floor, and lots of quiet. Space will be shared but not tight (if you’ve been to Rhizome, imagine two people in each room, each with their own table). Coffee, tea, snacks, and vegetarian lunch provided. Phones will be squirreled away by Rhizome’s own squirrels. For an extra fee, we won’t give you the wifi password. (Just kidding; we won’t give it to you for free.)

Featuring:
-an inspiring space (old house, big windows, beautiful art) - tables outside if weather is nice!
-delicious vittles you don’t have to plan yourself
-supportive sharing and strategizing as desired
-one and a half days of focused work

The Rhizome Writers Collective knows how hard it is to enter that writerly trance/get sh*t done. We’re here to facilitate the magic!

We have space for 8 people.

Saturday August 15 * 7pm * $15 * TICKETS

Pearie Sol "Mere moments after the singer and keyboard player began squawking his strange ballads into the microphone...audience members began squirming toward the exit" - Washington Post. "A frantic train terrorizing its patrons" - Austin Town Hall. "Jarring sound" - City Paper. "This guy sounds like he was raised by Bozo the Clown, Daniel Johnston, and a pack of wild dogs" - Bedford and Bowery.

That This, of DC, is a new-ish band from former members of Priests and Ex Hex.

Jackie Cougar & The Vampires From Africa is the electro punk project from Jack Abok ( Foul Swoops, Des Demonas, Sex Faces) Melding his love of the delta blues, hip hop, post punk and Krautrock.

Sunday August 16 * 3pm * RSVP

Death Cafes are opportunities for people to enjoy refreshments together and discuss the topic of death. The objective is to “increase awareness of death with a view to helping people make the most of their (finite) lives.” There are Death Cafes all over the country. What's on your mind about death and dying? Contact Death Cafe Facilitators Margaret Branch at margaret603@gmail.com or Monica Lynch at mlynch19@comcast.net.. Death Cafes are NOT therapy, grief support, or counseling sessions. Cost: Free (small donation for the space encouraged)