Transformer Station

01/20/2026

11/04/2025

New Work X offset | November 8, 2025 | 3:00--6:00 p.m. | Transformer Station

offset, the curatorial platform founded by FRONT Fellows Antwoine Washington and Amanda D. King, extends New Work into a space for dialogue and collective care.

Centered on the materials and practices of Washington and King, the activation moves the exhibition into embodied encounters -- gestures of care that consider how the body and place hold memory and build endurance through shared rituals of adornment, nourishment, and renewal.

This activation is part of the FRONT Futures Fellows Capstone Exhibition, featuring Amanda D. King, Charmaine Spencer, Erykah Townsend, and Antwoine Washington.

Featuring:

Conversations -- Antwoine Washington X Quartez Harris; Amanda D. King X Kisha Nicole Foster
Sound Bath -- Ylonda Rosenthal-Greene
Culinary Design -- Chef Donald Boyd (available for purchase)
Nail Artistry -- Cure Nail Gallery (advance booking encouraged: mysite.vagaro.com/cure/services)
Remarks -- Councilwoman Lauren R. Welch

02/19/2025

07/05/2023

03/01/2023

More from ❤️


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After ten years and 40 shows, this month saw the end of the Bidwell-era for the Transformer Station.

The Bidwells gifted the gallery to the Cleveland Museum of Art earlier this year. While looking with anticipation to future exhibitions from the museum, we also take a look back at the Bidwells as catalytic figures in the revival of Hingetown and champions of art on the west side.

In 2015, Cleveland Magazine captured the Bidwells’ extraordinary journey from the advertising industry to art collectors. In 2010, the couple sought a space to house their more-than-800-piece art collection. 🖼️

Back then, Hingetown looked very different. Rising Star Coffee Roasters was an abandoned fire station. The Striebinger Block housed three gay bars, a head shop and a rarely open barbecue restaurant. Drugs and prostitutes were the marquee attractions. 🏚️

But the Bidwells bought into the vision of Graham Veysey and his then-fiancée, Marika Shioiri-Clark. Where a storefront was being used for storage, Veysey and Clark saw the Kutya Rev Ohio City Dog Haven. Where one window housed a bail bondsman sign, they envisioned Cleveland Tea Revival.

Where a 1920s power station sat, the Bidwells saw an art gallery.

👨‍💻For more about the Bidwells, Hingetown and the Transformer Station, click on the link in our bio.

🖊️Sheehan Hannan
📸

02/25/2023

Did you catch 'SHOCKWAVES' when it was on view for one weekend in 2015 (January 31–February 1, 2015) at Transformer Station?

The darkly comic 'SHOCKWAVES' is about a man whose traumatic memories of childhood send him on a hallucinogenic carnival ride of self-destruction and murder. Through a Möbius strip of alternate realities, shifting times and multiple dimensions, Shockwaves weaves a kaleidoscopic nightmare tapestry of abuse and revenge.

Media artist Kasumi deploys an astonishing 25,000 public domain film samples, rotoscoped and live action film clips, dance choreography, animation and “stunning” sound design to produce a “brilliant,” “darkly madcap,” “grotesque, beautiful and transcendent” exploration of the nature of memory and our collective consciousness.

Images: Stills from the Kasumi "SHOCKWAVE" by the Cleveland-based artist and filmmaker, Kasumi.

02/24/2023

Acclaimed conceptual artist Ann Hamilton presented a new installation of work from an ongoing project titled 'O N E E V E R Y O N E' for Transformer Station's 2014 exhibition, 'UNKNOWN: Pictures of Strangers' which was on view from June 27–September 27, 2014. Did you visit Transformer Station for this exhibition?

Image: 'Installation view of UNKNOWN: Pictures of Strangers'. June 27, 2014 – September 27, 2014. Image courtesy of Transformer Station.

02/23/2023

Thank you Fred and Laura and Cleveland Magazine! ❤️❤️❤️

“On Feb. 5, closed its doors on Fred and Laura Bidwell’s final show. The Bidwells gifted the Hingetown gallery to the after 10 years of use, during which the local collectors and museum alternated exhibitions. 🖼️

Fred Bidwell cites his involvement with , Cleveland’s triennial contemporary art festival, as a reason to refocus. But the couple isn't going far — they plan to build a house next door.

“You’ll be able to practically reach out and touch it,” says Fred, 70. “We’ve had such a successful run and it’s felt so satisfying. The museum will do an amazing job, and this will give us a little extra time to breathe.” 🏠

We asked the Bidwells to reflect on their catalytic project, as it propelled Hingetown and introduced Clevelanders to one of the top 100 private collections in the country, with more than 1,300 pieces of work curated since the Bidwells' first acquisitions in 1991.”

👨‍💻Head over to the link in our bio to read the Bidwells’ greatest hits.

🖊️
📸 Courtesy Fred Bidwell; Kevin Kopanski