For several years now, the days of Rhizome D.C. have been numbered, but the arts and community space is not planning on closing any time soon. Instead, it is bound for a new location, one that is now officially purchased and soon to be renovated.
Rhizome D.C. has occupied 6950 Maple Street NW since 2016. Since then, the venue has hosted a wide variety of activities, such as poetry talks, film screenings, performance art, visual art exhibitions, music performances and dance shows.
Layne Garrett, program director at Rhizome D.C., told WTOP that the consideration to move started from the beginning.
“We’ve known from day one that our landlord would like to sell to a developer,” he said.
By 2020, the Rhizome D.C. staff learned that the process was underway with a contract in the works to sell the property to a potential developer. While relatively in the dark on the exact details of the process, Garrett said this “limbo situation” has continued since then, but thanks to community fundraising, the Rhizome D.C. staff have finally found a new home.
By May 1, staff members were able to raise $225,000, which is enough to purchase the building at 7733 Alaska Avenue NW, a little over a mile away from the original location. The crowdfunding is still ongoing, with an updated goal of $400,000 to pay for a new HVAC system, roof, accessible bathrooms and “other needed renovations,” according to the campaign. On May 29, the organization officially closed on the sale of the new building.
“I wouldn’t necessarily describe it as a step up. Our current space where we are now is much loved by many people,” Garrett said.
The original location for Rhizome D.C. is a two-story, single-family home with a large yard that is often used for programming. The new location is an approximately 1,300-square-foot, one-story storefront that was previously a medical office.
Garrett said he anticipates it could be a “hard transition” for people who love the current space, but, “The realities of operating in the D.C. area is that everything, of course, it’s very expensive. It’s very hard to find space.”
Even so, Garrett said, “I think as an organization, we feel confident about carrying our mission through into a different space even if some of what we love about the current space, we can’t take with us.”
He said he and the organization are “very excited” and are “honored” by the support they’ve received from the community.
The exact timeline of the move is still unclear, but Garrett said the goal is to move into the new location by early 2025, while still hosting shows and other events at the current location until then.
“It’s still a bit of a long road ahead,” he said.
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