Choose your own rock adventure at The Vera Project

Emily Clementine found The Vera Project the way a lot of people do: She went to a live show.

“One of my friends’ bands was playing, so I went,” said Clementine, now an 18-year-old senior at Chief Sealth International High School in Seattle.

Then she went to a few more shows at the all-ages venue at Seattle Center.

“I loved it. As soon as I got there I loved it,” she said. “I was super amazed that it was all run by volunteers. I was 15 at the time and had never come across anything like it.”

“It” is The Vera Project — a volunteer-driven, all-ages music and arts venue that provides a safe space for young people to enjoy live shows, while also introducing them to the behind-the-scenes world of the music business, and encouraging them to develop their own leadership voice.

The 14-year-old nonprofit, housed at Seattle Center since 2007, was modeled after a similar program in the Netherlands, Vera Groningen. Its name, Vera, is an acronym for the Latin “Veri et recti amici,” or “True and sincere friends.”

“The point was to make all-ages music and art accessible, but also to allow it to be a space where youths’ voices could be heard in a way they typically aren’t in a lot of organizations,” said Rachel Kramer, marketing and communications coordinator for Vera. “Our focus is to highlight the voices of people who don’t typically have voices.”

Both Clementine and Kramer call Vera a “choose your own adventure” story.

“We have a stage and we put on music, and that’s pretty much what people know us for, but we also offer classes in screen printing, live-sound engineering, studio engineering, lighting and DJing, and music journalism,” Kramer said. With a focus on ages 14 to 24, Vera also includes an art gallery, now part of the Uptown art walk, and offers space for events.

Vera came onto the scene as the city of Seattle wrestled with its Teen Dance Ordinance, enacted in 1985 after problems with sex and drug abuse at a popular club. The law tightly regulated the music scene and essentially shut out underage youth from live music shows. The ordinance was overturned and replaced in 2002 with a less restrictive one.

Along with its commitment to be an all-ages venue, Vera has a zero-tolerance policy for alcohol and drugs, and for hate speech, said Clementine, who in two years as a member at Vera has become chair of its steering committee. (She also performs on acoustic guitar and sings occasionally.) Both she and Kramer emphasized that the space is “safe and accessible.”

“We have gender-neutral bathrooms,” Kramer said, which means it’s a safe place for the transgender and queer community. Music shows span all genres. And Vera tries to make classes affordable, with scholarship and work-study opportunities.

“If you’re a young self-starter, Vera is one of the best places to be involved, because if you have an idea, then run with it, and we’ll help in the way we can,” Kramer said. “A lot of our volunteers come in without that voice. … They volunteer, then they become members, then invest more and develop their voice. And get to do cool things and put on cool events, and contribute to the higher-level organizational stuff that has to happen.”

Clementine has seen the growth in herself.

“When I came there, I had no idea, like, how to deal with patrons or talk with people professionally,” she said. But now, “I understand how a nonprofit works. I know how shows run. I know how to talk to bands. I know … how our sound works. I have a bunch of technical skills I can take with me. I am just so much more confident in myself.

“I think Vera has been a very safe place for me. It came into my life at a time when I was young and unsure of my capabilities. It’s given me a safe place to grow.”

About The Vera Project

Located at the corner of Warren Avenue North and Republican Street, next to KeyArena at Seattle Center

206-956-8372

Visit theveraproject.org for a list of upcoming music and art shows, classes and volunteer opportunities.