Exhibit runs May 2-27
Opening reception: Saturday May 2 from 4-6pm
Calls From Home screening and discussion: Sunday May 24, 4-5:30pm
Open during all events, or email us to schedule a different time to view

Amid the rapid expansion of the U.S. prison system over the last half-century, Central Appalachia became an area of particular growth for the construction of new carceral facilities. Due to the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ First Step Act, which established a radius of up to 500 miles between incarcerated individuals and their home residences, cities as far as Washington DC are enmeshed in relationships to the mountainous communities of Appalachia via the regular displacement of people through the prison-industrial-complex. In this exhibition, artists use a range of tactics to communicate the histories of harm, abolitionist activism, and community that emerge from this transregional entanglement. Through coal dust photography, quiltmaking, pen illustration, and other media, 500 Miles Out highlights a range of stories: episodes of organizing against pro-prison federal policies, the lived experiences of structural racism in Appalachian prisons bolstered by the stark demographic divides between incarcerated populations and local prison staffs, and the repurposing of toxic mining sites toward federal prison building. In several of the works on view, the proposed construction of federal prison FCI Letcher––which is slated to be built on a former mountaintop removal coal mine in Letcher County, Kentucky, and would be the most expensive prison in U.S. history if constructed––serves as a particularly pressing case through which artists and activists agitate against continued expansion of the carceral apparatus. Artists: Jonas N.T. Becker, Lacy Hale, Jared Hamilton, Jordan Martinez-Mazurek, Comrade Pitt Panther, Tiffany Pyette, Kat Smith, Sylvia Ryerson. Curated by Gabrielle Christiansen.

Friday May 15 * 7pm * $15 * TICKETS

Spark Isle is an experimental rock trio based in the DMV. The group's instrumental compositions touch on jazz, funk, punk and styles in between. Visually, Spark Isle presents projections to accompany each song that often feature footage of collaborations with artists from other mediums (painters, dancers, etc.). 

Spare Hearts is Ira Golthi (vocals) and Alex Weitzel (synth). Based out of Washington DC, their electro-pop debut EP "Off the Line" was released in May 2025. Now playing as a heavily synth-driven duo, Ira and Alex are performing dark and danceable synthpop/EBM tracks for the masses. Their newest single, "High Priestess," is out November 2025.

The Morelias released their debut EP on December of 2025. This first batch of songs are mostly love songs about overcoming depression and finding or losing romantic partners. It’s light hearted and stylistically reminiscent of early 2000’s indie rock and old school punk from the west coast. You can hear these songs live at music clubs in Washington D.C.

Employee 1 is the solo project of Russell from Incubator. Using a looper, keyboard and vocoder, Employee 1 is a dramatic pop experience performed from behind a desk

Saturday May 16 * 7pm * $10-20 * TICKETS

Hilary Plum is a writer, editor, and teacher in Cleveland, Ohio. Her recent books include the novel State Champ (Bloomsbury, 2025), the long poem Important Groups (Community Mausoleum, 2025), and the essay collection Hole Studies (Fonograf Editions, 2022). With Zach Savich she edits the Open Prose Series at Rescue Press. With Zach Peckham she hosts the podcast Index for Continuance.

Terence Winch has published ten books of poems, the most recent being It Is As If Desire (Hanging Loose, 2024) and That Ship Has Sailed (Pitt Poetry Series, 2023). Winner of an American Book Award and the Columbia Book Award, he has also published two story collections and a novel. He was the guest editor for Best American Poetry 2025 and the editor of the Best American Poetry blog’s “Pick of the Week” feature. Winch is the recipient of an NEA poetry fellowship and a Gertrude Stein Award for Innovative Writing. Also a musician and songwriter, he co-founded the original Celtic Thunder, the traditional Irish music group.

Sunday May 17 * 10am * $20 / scholarships available * REGISTER

Join illustrator LA Johnson for a high-energy, two-hour deep dive into the world of sequential art.  We’re breaking down everything kids need to build their own universe:

• Character Design: Give your protagonists personality.

• The Art of the Gab: Write dialogue that actually sounds human.

• Visual Storytelling: Master the flow from the first sketch to the final frame.

Whether you're a doodler or a dreamer, you’ll walk away with the tools to make your story shine. Let’s get making.

For Ages: 7+ /// email info@rhizomedc.org for info on scholarships

Sunday May 17 * 1-3pm * 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)

Sunday May 17 * 6-8pm * Free / donations * RSVP

Please join us to celebrate the opening of a youth gallery exhibit in our downstairs space. Music starting at 7 featuring youth bands 404 DC and Troy McLure.

Artists: Acadia, Ash, Chase, Cynthia, Karen, Kendall, Lola, Maggie, Makayla, Mayme, Roy, Ryah, Samiya, Wilson, Zion.

Curated by Holland Schmitz with Lel Iwugo and Wally Hewchuck

Monday May 18 * 7pm * $5 * Includes popcorn and drink * TICKETS

Join us for the Takoma Park-Silver Spring Co-op's Fourth Annual Co-op Film Fest in partnership with Rhizome!

Cooperatives are a proven alternative to extractive capitalism. In a time when corporate consolidation dominates our food system, cooperatives offer a practical, viable alternative that prioritizes equity, sustainability, and local self-determination. Join TPSS and Rhizome to watch and discuss two documentaries that examine the history of co-ops in the United States and explore how they build healthier, more connected communities.

Successfully thriving in the global economy of the 21st century and beyond will require new business models and strategies to enable the American Dream of opportunity and economic prosperity. We the Owners captures stories from the founders and employees of three employee-owned businesses, New Belgium Brewing, Namaste Solar, and DPR Construction, sharing the worker's perspectives on shared ownership structures, empowering corporate cultures, linked reward and risk incentives, and human-capital innovation models. The film follows as decisions are made from founding and expansion, succession and recruitment, to layoffs. As the companies in the film show, employee ownership comes in a variety of shapes and sizes. What they have in common as “Best Places to Work” is that shared ownership and employee voice are integral to their responsible business practices, strategy, and success.

Tuesday May 19 * doors at 7pm, music at 7:45pm * $15 * TICKETS

Knave is a rock band from washington dc.

Rain Shears is indie folk rock from dc.

Big Government - brass-infused indie rock with dance worthy rhythms.

Wednesday May 20 * doors at 7, show at 7:45 * $10 * TICKETS

Born and raised in the suburban landscapes of Maryland, the ethereal music artist known as Strawbalien possesses a talent that transcends the ordinary. Her music, a fusion of haunting melodies and poetic lyrics, transcends traditional genre boundaries. Influenced by the whimsical world of cartoons like Adventure Time and the hazy vibes of early cloud rap artists like Yung Bruh, her sound is a journey into a realm of otherworldly beauty and introspective storytelling.

Hirow - cloudy, dreamy Experimental Hip Hop from Charleston SC - 'industrial hip-hop with tangents of soulful rhythm and blues tunes. The consistencies of the beats amplify or distort the vocals, displaying Hirow’s cohesive yet experimental style.' ''“joy ride” is ominous from the start, opening with layers of distortion and eerie, moaning vocals. A quick beat drops, and Hirow begins to rap against the textured noise, keeping a stilted-yet-steady pace...it show’s Hirow’s ability to pair complex sound and production choices with stirring lyricism and creative delivery'

Iris

Jerrystar

Thursday May 21 * 7pm doors, 7:30pm show * $15-30 sliding scale * TICKETS

Presented by Outside Time.... Madison Greenstone is a clarinetist, writer, and composer based in Brooklyn. Their solo practice, exstatic resonances, explores phenomenological, material, and spatial expressivities of sound through richly noisy timbral actions. As the clarinetist of TAK Ensemble, “one of the most prominent ensembles in the United States practicing truly experimental music” (I Care If You Listen) they have premiered music by Tyshawn Sorey, Eric Wubbels, Weston Olencki, Michelle Lou, Jessie Cox, Brandon López and champions some of the most radical music currently devised.

Their debut solo album, Resonance Studies in Ecstatic Consciousness (Relative Pitch Records), was included in Bandcamp’s Best Experimental Music of 2023 compilation, and has been described as “one hell of a calling card” (The Wire) and “mind-blowing” (Nowhere Street).

Two Weeks is Ben Starkey and Obie Feldi. Together they make music with computers.

Friday May 22 * doors at 7, show at 7:30 * $15 * TICKETS

Red Brick presents:

ROBBER ROBBER (Burlington, Vermont) - "Pinpointing the specific catalyst for an avalanche can be slippery — any combination of classic elements, human interference, or freak accident can trigger disaster — and documenting these precise moments often rests on serendipitous reflexes. On Two Wheels Move the Soul, Robber Robber offer themselves as ignition and capture every sound in the wake. Involuntarily thrust into the throws of rootless nomadism, Robber Robber ringleader Nina Cates collects a series of pressurized vignettes to assemble the Burlington quartet’s thrillingly explosive sophomore album….”

EMPATH (PHILADELPHIA, PA)

Saturday May 23 * 2pm * MASKS REQUIRED * $35-45 * REGISTER

Dye sessions act as an interactive introduction to natural dye. Every dye session is uniquely tailored to each group and may change seasonally due to the availability of natural dye materials. Each participant will work with cotton bandanas to learn and practice a variety of dye techniques.

Fatima Janneh is a Gambian American fiber and textiles artist. Based in DC, she works primarily with natural dye and is an avid knitter. Currently teaching dye workshops and selling at markets around the city.

Scholarships are available - please reach out via email to info@rhizomedc.org

Saturday May 23 * doors at 7, music at 7:30 * $15-25 * TICKETS

Minibeast is a three-piece band comprised of Peter Prescott (formerly of Mission of Burma, Volcano Suns, Kustomized) playing guitar, keys, noises (mouth & other) & the mind bending rhythm section of Keith Seidel on drums n' percussion and Niels LaWhite on bass. It's liquid music...always moving. They gratefully accept influences from Fela Kuti, Can, and the Stooges.

Washington DC's Nice Breeze have been kicking around since before the start of the decade. The trio of John Howard, Martha Hamilton & Andy Fox churn out solid, hook-laden, bullseye-pop gems by the bushel. DC area bands have always seemed to possess that extra digit when it comes to honing a particular strain of post punk expression & Nice Breeze are no exception.

FREQ FLAG are a DC/Baltimore trio from Dave Bryson, Joe Halladay and Burleigh Seaver (ex-members of Son Volt, Des Demonas, Shortstack), dealing in rhythm-centric cosmic Americana.

Sunday May 24 * noon-4pm * $5-10 suggested * RSVP

The DC Modular Society is a group focused on learning, teaching, and performing electronic music with modular synths. DCMS meetups are open to all with an interest in electronic music, modular and other hardware synths, and hybrid systems for creating and performing music. We encourage and support building a diverse and inclusive community—if you’re wondering if you belong—the answer is yes! No equipment is necessary to attend meetups, but feel free to bring gear if you like. Mixer and PA system provided. We frequently do informal demos of synths and electronic music techniques.

Sunday May 24 * 4pm * Free / donations * RSVP

Join us for a screening and discussion, presented in conjunction with our May exhibit 500 Miles Out - Carceral Ties between the District and Central Appalachia

All donations through the RSVP link will be passed along to the Building Communities Not Prisons Coalition - or you can donate directly HERE.

CALLS FROM HOME USA 2023 31 min

A longstanding radio program sends familial messages of love to people incarcerated in Central Appalachia. Directed by Sylvia Ryerson, a former DJ for the show, CALLS FROM HOME follows the weekly broadcast through prison walls, portraying the many forms of distance that rural prison building creates—and the ceaseless work to end the racist system of mass incarceration and family separation.

Monday May 25 * doors at 7, music at 7:45 * $15 * TICKETS

Fixations (NC Garage Punk)
https://getfixxedidiot.bandcamp.com/album/try-less

Everything (MD Fastcore)

Glycine (DC Hardcore)
https://glycine.bandcamp.com/album/demo-2025

Rocky IV (DC Punk)
First Show, Only show!

Tuesday May 26 * 7pm * $10-20 * TICKETS

Sarah Hughes is a performing and visual artist. She has 26 years of experience playing the alto saxophone and also doubles on the soprano saxophone, flute, and clarinet. Her music is intuitive and genre-liberated while displaying an unquestionable command of her instrument and musical vocabulary.

Gerswyn Foster Is a DMV - Electronic composer and sound designer.

Michael R. Bernstein lives in Takoma Park, Maryland, where he is developing a band of robot musicians to alleviate humans from the burdensome task of creating music for themselves. In former lives he ran the Heavy Tapes cassette label, performed over 100 live shows with improvised quartet Double Leopards, and started a rock band called Religious Knives with his best friend and wife, Maya E. Miller

Wednesday May 27 * Doors at 6:30, show at 7 * $20-25 * TICKETS

Glenn Jones is a master of American Primitive Guitar, a style invented in the late 1950s by John Fahey, whose traditional fingerpicking techniques and wide-ranging influences were used to create modern original compositions. Jones, who led the post-rock ensemble Cul de Sac, brings his own made-up tunings, the use of custom-crafted partial capos, and a highly skilled picking style on both banjo and guitar, to create personal compositions that are lyrical, emotive and elegant.

Liam Grant is a New England guitarist and improviser cut from the American Primitive cloth. The restless guitar explorations, modal epics, and driving uptempo rags recall the likes of Grant's pedagogue, Takoma Records, and the path that was paved by his forebears John Fahey, Robbie Basho, Peter Walker, Max Ochs, and later, Glenn Jones, Steffen Basho-Junghans, Jack Rose, and others.

Ari Rosenfield is a folk singer and songwriter from the southwestern US who has had severe writer's block for about six years. She will play you some sad songs she wrote for the banjo a long time ago, and hopefully that will help her overcome her writer's block. She wishes her songs sounded like if Joanna Newsom helped Leonard Cohen write his songs and then Karen Dalton played covers of them, but in reality, they're probably much worse.

Friday May 29 * doors at 7pm, music at 7:30 * $15-20 / NOTAFLOF * TICKETS

Alex Koi x Kirin McElwain is a duo of original music for voice, cello, and modular synthesizer.

Kirin McElwain is a cellist and composer working in the realms of experimental, contemporary classical, and improvised music. Weaving together classical and Baroque influences with an affinity for sub-bass and harsh electronic textures, her music explores themes of desire, shame, perfection, and belonging.

Alex Koi is a composer, vocalist and improvising musician. Combining her diverse influences in Jazz and improvised music, the avant-garde and electronic, her work has been called “primal and futuristic at the same time” [Current Magazine] and “impossibly beautiful” [Stereo Stickman].

Previously, her former long-term band project Saajtak has been called “one of the most intriguing and unclassifiable bands in the country right now" [Tone Madison]. Saajtak has released five independently-released EPs and one LP via Chicago’s American Dreams record label.

Alex has received grants from the Church of Noise, the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, and YoungArts. She has been awarded residency at Avaloch Farm Music Institute in 2024 and 2026. She was a composer fellow at NewAmsterdam Composer Lab as well as a performer fellow with Bang on A Can. In addition to her many collaborative projects, she is developing the music for her debut solo recording.

Walsh Kunkel is a guitarist, composer, label curator and electronic musician hailing from Baltimore, Maryland. With a focus on combining electronic and acoustic music styles, Kunkel is forging his own sound and searching for ways to express his views of the world through his work.

Saturday May 30 * 1pm * $5-30 sliding scale * REGISTER

Participants will learn about 16mm film projection, create their own hand drawn physical film loops, and see their own film loops projected. Materials will be provided.

Link to Sample loop: https://vimeo.com/766522792

Instructors: Emily Francisco and Joanna Stillwell

Saturday May 30 * doors at 7:00, music at 7:30 * $12-15 * TICKETS

Kevin Knight a.k.a. Nevin Kight is a Multi-Instrumentalist, song-crafter, absurdist, & experimental recording artist based in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. “Songs of love, pain and spirit from a nature nerd in the age of the Anthropocene”

Bohemian Waxwing is a coming together of four musicians with roots in alt-country, punk, ambient, and indie rock. With songs that ponder our connections with art, science and the natural world, their lyrics sit at the intersection of our internal and external lives. Their songs might be compared to Yo La Tengo, with the harmonic leanings of XTC, and the lyrical bent of Bill Calahan.

Nayan Bhula is a DC rock lifer who turned 50 and decided to get louder. A veteran of post-punk outfit GIST and orchestrated indie ensemble The NRIs, Bhula has spent decades carving space for South Asian artists in rock ’n’ roll—DIY, defiant, and relentless. His current band, NAYAN, blends DC post-punk urgency with classic rock swagger and ’80s new-wave hooks.

Sunday May 31 * Doors at 1, music at 1:20 * $10-25 * TICKETS

People's Music Supply and Rhizome are proud to present the fourth installment of our cutting-edge series showcasing improvisational interplay between Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. — two vanguard's of today's experimental music scene.

Francisco Quintero, Stephen Arnold, and Kelton Norris bring a contemporary and honest approach to the guitar trio setting that capitalizes upon each member’s unique voice and years of playing in a variety of styles and genres.

FFMMAP! are Flandrew Fleisenberg, Mason McAvoy and Aaron Pond. Sonic scenery for an absurdist theatre at the end of time. Transmissions become beacons; lighthouses burn bright, guideposts for a journey without end.

Nate Scheible (percussion/found sounds), Victor Provost (steel pan), Connor Eeckles (electric guitar), and Christina Gesualdi (dance) come together to discover the nuanced edges of cultural meaning.

Sunday May 31 * 7:30pm * $5-10 * TICKETS

Jam nights are an opportunity for people to show up and create art together. Bring a guitar, sticks, sketch pad, didgeridoo, or your dancing shoes and come vibe. Amps, speakers, drum set, and microphones are provided.

QUEERING SOUND26

01-28 JUNE • VISUAL ART • RHIZOME DC

05 JUNE • 7 PM • RHIZOME DC
ARI VOXX / ASHANTI (SPOKEN WORD) / MARCUS WEBB (VIDEO) / THIS COULD GO BOOM! SHOWCASE / ERIN FRISBY / CACIE / AERYN GOLDSTEIN 

06 JUNE • 2 PM ART RECEPTION • RHIZOME DC
THE CONSTRUCTIVIST BROTHERHOOD

06 JUNE • 7 PM • TAKOMA SPARK • 7112 WILLOW AVE TKPK MD
ELLA G SAFETY BEAR • SAD VEILED BRIDE

07 JUNE • 10 AM • TAKOMA PARK GAZEBO • 7035 CARROLL AVE TKPK MD
TÉ • MADDIE CARDOZA

07 JUNE, 2 PM • QUEERING NOIZE • RHIZOME DC
DEDBOI / EYEROLLS / DEPRESSION FACTORY (JEFF BARSKY + MARKUS MEIER) / THVT CLOUD w/ JAN SWINBURNE (VIDEO)

07 JUNE, 7 PM • RHIZOME DC
BLOOD FAMILY REUNION / BOY MEETS PEARL / YOUTH IN GOVERNMENT / MYSTERYBAND / ADRIAN GASTON GARCIA / AGG (SPOKEN WORD) / KERRI SHEEHAN (VIDEO) / GLORIAN (BALTIMORE) 

14 JUNE, 1 PM • ART WORKSHOP • RHIZOME DC

WWW.QUEERINGSOUND.COM

Monday June 1 * doors at 6:30, music at 7 * $15-20 * TICKETS

The Early is Alex Lewis (guitars, synthesizers) and Jake Nussbaum (drums, electronics). The two have spent the past seven years reinventing their shared musical language, infusing the textural grandeur of post-rock with the communicational intimacy of jazz improvisation, the patient grooves of minimalism, electronica, and drone. Their 2026 release, I Want To Be Ready (Island House Recordings) was described by Record Crates United as “drifty, minimalist jazz fusion soundscapes that hum, drone and rumble like the atmosphere of a clockwork city.”

Bent Light is the duo of Michael Slyne and Russel Linder. 2 punk rockers and less volume. Two guitars. Millions of pedals. Busted tape machines sing too. Sometimes beautiful, sometimes harsh. They say it feels like a dream. 

Raven Bauer Durham is an experimental guitar-based performer from Virginia, incorporating electric and acoustic ambient textures, voice, and song layers. Previously a member of the improvisational group Phoenix Auto Group. 

Tuesday June 2 * 7pm * $10-20 * TICKETS

"Philadelphia's Street Rat is a pulsing, writhing pile of static and uncoiled energy. Featuring modded electronics and full-body engagement, their wild noise emanations are simultaneously electric and unquestionably organic. " - subscape2025

POST COMMUNITY is a collective, a collaboration, an open group founded by members of a slew of East Coast punk bands, and presently operating out of Baltimore - message the band if you're keen to participate in basement activities.

Odette is an conceptual noise project from Baltimore. Harsh atonality and sludgy industrial laments ‘Quo Vadis?’ “Sounds like a John Grisham novel.” - Jason Laird Wise, Cussfucker

Suburbanabuse - “Felt like a sonic interpretation of Guantanamo Bay levels of darkness..” — Review of Suburbanabuse from an American University undergrad scholar.

Wednesday June 3 * 6:30pm * $10-50 * TICKETS

The Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition (BACC) has been fighting to protect the graves of African-Americans buried at the Moses Cemetery along River Road, just over the DC border, since 2016, taking the case all the way to the Maryland Supreme Court to stop developers from desecrating these graves.   Three musical acts will perform on June 3rd to raise money for the non-profit BACC and to honor the ancestors whose resting place has been disturbed and whose history has been erased.  Please join us for music, resistance and community!

Jamal Gray & The Avant Vanguard explores sonic cultural memory through experimental minimal jazz, electronics, and sound collage.

Freedome is a writer, artist, educator, and vocalist who performs with In Process, the acappella women's singing act that is the sister group of Bernice Johnson Reagon's Sweet Honey in the Rock.

Mia & The Argonauts is a jangly rock group led by singer-songwriter Mia Chu, who is backed by a group of teachers from Jackson-Reed High School (James Kelly on guitar, Marc Minsker on bass, and Tom Murphy on drums).

Tickets are $10 for students and sliding scale $20- $40 for everyone else, with all proceeds going to support BACC.  VIP Tickets are $50 which includes an opening reception with wine, lite fare, and reserved parking.

Thursday June 4 * 7pm * $10-20 * TICKETS

We are pleased to present an evening of films by Margaret Rorison (Baltimore), who will be present for a discussion with the audience following the screening. Margaret Rorison is a filmmaker, artist and educator from Baltimore, MD. Her work incorporates 16mm film, alternative photographic processes, poetry, and sound to explore her interests in portraiture, memory, and landscape. Her films have been exhibited at Miami PULSE Art Fair, Microscope Gallery, The Museum of The Moving Image, The National Gallery of Art, and The Walker Art Center. Her short films have shown at film festivals including Edinburgh International Film Festival, Images Festival, Open City Documentary Film Festival, & FICUNAM in Mexico City. From 2012-2022, she directed Sight Unseen Screening Series, an experimental film series that brought contemporary filmmakers and curators to Baltimore to present their work.

Friday June 5 * 7pm * $15-20 * TICKETS

Ari Voxx is DC’s Dreamy Pop Princess. Well-versed in many different music worlds, she focuses on writing music that is eclectic and authentically her, transcending genres, with a sound heavily inspired by the moods and vibes of 80s/90s new-wave and pop artists.

Ashanti (spoken word)

Marcus Webb (video) is an ambient composer and multi-instrumentalist whose work has carved a unique space within the realms of experimental and drone music. Known for his distinctive fusion of ambient soundscapes and metaphysical exploration, Webb creates music that resonates deeply with listeners seeking immersive, meditative experiences.

This Could Go Boom! Showcase: Erin Frisby - Cacie - Professor Goldstein