Last year, Artomatic was held in an empty, half-developed neighborhood north of the Capitol. This year, it’s bouncing to an empty, half-developed neighborhood south of the Capitol.

Today, the Washington Business Journal reports that Artomatic will be held in the Capitol Riverfront neighborhood, at 55 M St. SE, “a building still under construction on top of the Navy Yard Metro station.”

The annual D.C.-area arts event draws thousands of people to hang out in spaces that normally would be closed-off by chain link fences and padlocked doors, in neighborhoods people have no reason to visit at night. Or ever really.

But that is what’s great about hosting Artomatic, which last year included more than a thousand different exhibits from artists. The free event is a boon to the neighborhood.

Last year, I spent exactly one evening hanging out in NoMa. It was in early May for Artomatic. If not for this particular trip, I’m confident that my time on-the-town there would have been scaled back from several hours to a whopping none.

This year’s Artomatic will run from May 29 to July 5.

Image by Mr. T in DC, Flickr Creative Commons