When the Earthquake and Tsunami Struck Japan

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Opening, Thursday, February 16 at the Pepco Edison Place Art Gallery is the collaborative presentation, "2:46 and thereafter." This exhibition highlights the responses of emerging Japanese artists to the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan's north-east coast and its effect on the country and the people. The exhibition title, "2:46 and thereafter" marks the time the earthquake hit, and is referenced throughout Japan the same way Americans now refer to 9/11.

The exhibit is a collaboration of Washington, D.C. based Transformer and DANDANS, a Tokyo based artist collective. Transformer is a nonprofit artist-centered visual arts organization, which provides a consistent, supportive, and professional platform for emerging artists. DANDANS began as a group for young, emerging artists and supporters in 2005. The member artists, mainly in their twenties and thirties, were seeking exhibition possibilities in Tokyo as they worked in a variety of genres. The DANDANS artists are fully engaged in the organization and the setup of all exhibitions.

Pepco's Edison Place Art Gallery is located at 702 Eighth Street, NW between G and H streets, one block west of the Verizon Center. The mission of Pepco's Edison Place Art Gallery is to work with nonprofit arts organizations to sponsor a series of diverse, high quality art exhibits on behalf of the community. The Gallery is open Tuesday through Friday from 12 - 4 p.m. with free admission.

A Framework Panel and Reception will be held on Thursday, February 16 from 4:30 - 8:00 p.m., which is also open to the public.

There will be a closing Reception held on Saturday, March 24 from 6 - 8 p.m. featuring a special performance by On Megumi Akiyoshi.

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Pepco, a subsidiary of Pepco Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: POM), delivers safe, reliable and affordable electric service to more than 789,000 customers in Maryland and the District of Columbia.