Community comes in different forms. Whether you want to get involved with sound, screenprinting, grassroots organizing, or booking shows, you can find your community.
Located in the Seattle Center, next to Climate Pledge Arena, is the Vera Project. Since 2001, the space has served as a music venue, screen print shop, recording studio, and art gallery. Augustine, a student at Seattle Central and a house manager at The Vera Project shared that after hearing about Vera while growing up in Queen Anne, he started volunteering. He became most active as a teenager after quarantine.
After taking regular volunteer shifts, he began feeling connected to the community. Attending the Center School, located a short walk from Vera in the Seattle Center Armory, he found that Vera became like a second home where he could hang out and volunteer at shows after school.
Maya, the current volunteer coordinator, also started at Vera as a teenager. As with Augustine, the space acted as a third place where teenagers could hang out and go to shows. Wanting to become more involved, Maya joined the Steering Committee after volunteering for some time. The Steering Committee at Vera manages shows in the space and facilitates outreach by, for example, setting up a booth at local festivals like Bumbershoot or Capitol Hill Block Party. The committee also reaches out to schools to encourage youth involvement at Vera.
Shows at Vera happen in either the main performance space or the gallery, which is a smaller space. The organization recently expanded to include Black Lodge, a venue in South Lake Union that opened in 2022. All of its venues follow the same rules and code of ethics: the venues are always for all ages, drugs and alcohol are not permitted, and the spaces are safe for everyone regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, age, or race.
A recent show at Vera featured the band Floral Tattoo playing alongside three others. It’s common at Vera to have two or three bands play before the headlining act, unlike bigger venues, where only one is the standard. There is a strong communal feel in having so many bands play and interact with each other. The bands worked together when it came to borrowing equipment, and greeted one another with open arms.
The venues hold more than concerts. Vera has a variety of classes that anyone can take: screenprinting, sound engineering, and more. Although a free membership is not required to sign up for a class, members receive a 50% discount on classes.
Members at Vera pledge 24 hours of volunteer time annually. They attend quarterly meetings held throughout each season. Volunteering without membership is also an option, and most people volunteer a few times before committing to a membership.
For those interested in getting involved, events at Vera and its sibling venue, Black Lodge, are plentiful and varied, including an array of concerts and workshops. Signing up for a volunteer orientation or attending a show is a great way to discover the community already in place.
Author
Holly Brusse is a first-year student at Seattle Central College. Her interest in journalism started when she joined her high school newspaper during her sophomore year of high school. She enjoys writing on politics, music, and pop culture. Outside of school she enjoys listening to music, painting in watercolor, and spending time with her cat.
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