Imagine 1,000 artists transforming en empty building into a massive, open, party-every-night art happening. It happens around here every couple of years, and it’s called Art-O-Matic!

More than 1,000 area artists, writers, and performers have transformed an exciting and huge space at 800 3rd St. NE into an open showcase for thousands of works, hundreds of performances, and dozens of educational presentations and discussions (and a lot of parties). Nearby Union Station provides easy Metro and there’s plenty of parking.

Art-O-Matic is one of the great things that happen to Washington art every couple of years or so. If it was staged in New York, or LA or even Frisco, it would be a worldwide acclaimed art happening.

But because it is here in Washington, DC, where the lamestream media ignores the visual arts, it is usually brutalized in the press, which can’t stand the fact that Art-O-Matic shows have drawn 20,000 to 50,000 visitors, who come to look, absorb, question, and identify what they like from this terrific community of area artists.

The shared discovery between the audience and artist is what makes Art-O-Matic unique and rewarding for all. There