MISSION / VISION
Rhizome DC is a nonprofit community arts space located at 6950 Maple St NW, in the Takoma neighborhood of Washington DC. We are dedicated to promoting creativity as a force for personal empowerment and community engagement. We also strive to provide a home for non-mainstream programming in the DC area.
We host programs that promote creativity in all its forms. These include concerts, workshops, performances, talks, exhibitions, and demonstration projects in areas such as art, music, technology, theater, local food, poetry, as well as in more esoteric fields of knowledge.
We believe it's more interesting to make your own culture than to consume culture made by others.
We are exploring new approaches to grassroots community education which seek to blur the lines between amateur and professional, teacher and student, and which free learning from rigid models of instruction and explication.
We also strongly support non-commercial artistic experiences and seek to provide a space for artists to create experimental works and share the results with the broader community.
To receive updates about Rhizome's programs and events, click here
To get involved, lead a program, or perform at Rhizome, or for any other questions or for information, please contact us at info@rhizomedc.org
โLet us summarize the principal characteristics of a rhizome: unlike trees or their roots, the rhizome connects any point to any other point, and its traits are not necessarily linked to traits of the same nature.โ - Gilles Deleuze & Felix Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus, (1987)
PACBI
In full solidarity with the people of Palestine, Rhizome DC formally commits to the Palestinian international call for ๐๐ผ๐๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐, ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ (BDS) and pledges to uphold the guidelines of the ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐น๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐บ๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐๐น๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ผ๐๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฒ๐น (PACBI).
Official Israeli cultural institutions are complicit in the Israeli system of oppression that has denied Palestinians their basic rights guaranteed by international law. As an organization we therefore commit to:
Boycott any cultural product or event (including films, artworks, plays, exhibits, performances, tours by artists and writers, among other activities) that is sponsored, commissioned, or funded by an official Israeli body;
Refrain from participation in any form of academic and cultural cooperation, collaboration, or joint projects with Israeli institutions;
Refrain from hosting or circulating any events or cultural products operating under the auspices of โnormalization,โ or which advance a false symmetry between oppressed and oppressor;
Support Palestinian academic and cultural institutions directly without requiring them to partner with Israeli counterparts as an explicit or implicit condition for such support.
Rhizome DC will neither collaborate with nor provide or accept funding from state-sponsored Israeli institutions and organizations unless and until the state of Israel meets the three demands of the BDS call: to end the Israeli occupation and colonization of all Palestinian lands and dismantle the wall; to recognize the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality; and to respect, protect, and promote the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties, as stipulated in UN Resolution 194.
The BDS movement, including PACBI, rejects on principle boycotts of individuals based on their identity (such as citizenship, race, gender, sexuality, or religion) or opinion. This is not a boycott of Israeli artists; PACBI and BDS are boycotts of an apartheid state.
We urge all arts organizations, artists, and cultural workers to join us in committing to the Palestinian international call for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS), and to comply with the PACBI.
More information at https://bdsmovement.net/pacbi.
Further context: Rhizome DC was founded as a safe space for marginalized music, art, culture, knowledge, and people. We stand with oppressed people and peoples. We stand against mass human suffering and apartheid. We strive to be a safe space for all. We recognize the burdens all marginalized people carry to know which spaces are truly safe. This includes Black and Brown people, Indigenous people, Queer people, disabled people, Arabs, Muslims, Jews. Struggles for liberation are necessarily intertwined. We absolutely recognize that the pain is real for all who feel it, and we join all who are mourning loss of life. At this moment when the violent oppression of Palestinians has reached its most acute phase to date, we feel called to make space for this particular pain, to support artists and organizers raising funds for Palestinian aid efforts, and to amplify calls for an immediate and permanent ceasefire. Our commitment to standing up for marginalized people includes an unwavering rejection of antisemitism in all its forms, and we absolutely reject any statement that equates showing support for the besieged people of Palestine with being antisemitic.
SAFE SPACE POLICY
Rhizome DC aspires to make all visitors and participants feel supported and free from harm. We want all people to feel safe, secure, and cared for. We aim to be a place of indiscriminate care for all based on the recognition that all of us have the capacity to both cause harm as well as to offer care. We want to nurture the latter and weaken the former.
In the event that harassment, intimidation, stalking, following, unwanted photography or recording, inappropriate physical contact, and/or unwelcome sexual attention occurs at Rhizome, we will respond with utmost gravity. If any of these behaviors take place at Rhizome and are reported to us, we will make a report for our own records and, when appropriate, address the offending party to seek a peaceable solution. If such a resolution cannot be achieved or the offending party is not amenable, we will limit or prohibit their attendance at events. This applies equally to volunteers, performers, and artists in addition to other visitors.
We can only respond to reports that are made to us by someone who identifies themselves clearly. In any such case, we will hold the confidence of such a person 100% unless that person specifically requests otherwise.
Every circumstance is unique but, in the vast majority of cases, our ability to intervene is confined to what takes place within the physical boundaries of our space, for which we are responsible. We are unable and unqualified to ethically mediate or act on most reports of unhealthy or abusive interpersonal relationships that occur outside of our space.
Credit to Yes We Cannibal (Baton Rouge) for much of the language here.
COVID POLICY
Masks are required at certain events depending on the needs of the artists/facilitators/organizers. If masks are required, it will say so at the top of the event listing. Masks and covid vaccination are encouraged but not required at all other events. Please stay home if you or your close contacts are sick.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO ATTEND AN EVENT AND NEED A MASK REQUIREMENT IN ORDER TO ATTEND SAFELY, WE CAN REQUIRE MASKS FOR ALL ATTENDEES AT THAT EVENT. PLEASE EMAIL US AT LEAST 3 DAYS PRIOR TO THE EVENT.
LOCATION UPDATE (as of December 2024)
As you may know, our days on Maple Street are numbered. There is a contract to build apartments on the property. Once the building permit is obtained, we will have to move out. We will not be closing. We will be relocating. The timing of the move is unclear. We expect to be in our current location at least through mid-2025.
In the meantime, with the amazing support of our community, and a generous grant from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, we have purchased a building nearby that will serve as a long-term home for Rhizome. There is lots of work to be done to get it up and running - months of waiting for building permits, followed by months of construction. We are still fundraising for construction costs. You can learn more about how to help at givebutter.com/rhizomedcforever.
F.A.Q.
Where are you located?
We are located at 6950 Maple St. NW, a few blocks from the Takoma Metro station (Red line).
Are events all-ages?
In almost all cases, yes! We strive to be inclusive, and there are often young people at our events. If an event is NOT all ages, that will be noted in the event description.
Do you have parking?
There is usually ample parking on the street. If it is evening hours, you can park in the spots on the north side of the house that say โprivate parking onlyโ.
Can I lead a class or workshop at Rhizome?
Absolutely! We embrace a grassroots approach to community education whereby anyone with the relevant expertise and passion in a particular subject is empowered to lead a class or workshop, not just professional educators. This approach greatly expands the kinds of programs that can be offered by leveraging the expertise already residing right here in our community. In a very real sense, the community is the curriculum. If there is a class, workshop or performance that you would like to lead, please let us know!
Is the space accessible?
There is a ramp leading up to the backdoor. The only bathroom is upstairs. Please feel free to email with specific questions / to let us know how we can help accommodate your needs.