Generations, a new multi-purpose event venue, is set to take over the building on Capitol Hill once occupied by the popular all-ages underground arts space Cairo. The proprietors, former Cairo (and current Prism) owners Aimee Butterworth and Joel Leshefka, along with Zachary St. John, plan to make Generations a place that will be more accessible to the community. Says Butterworth "[We want to] create a space that [is] really open to people being able to do a lot of different things. It is pretty different to Cairo."
To that end, Generations' owners have knocked out some of the walls from Cairo's old performance area to create more room; the sightlines are vastly improved. They've also added new lights, applied a fresh coat of paint, built a new hallway, cleaned up the bathroom, installed a new toilet, and added a small vanity. In addition, they've built a bar, in case anyone with a Washington state non-profit special-events permit wants to serve alcohol at an event. Generations will be using Cairo's sound system and they're making it available for rentals.
So far a wide range of people have taken an interest in the space—from "yoga instructors, to workshop coordinators, folks looking to host music shows, and private parties," St. John says.
"We are also speaking to a few folks who'd like to record records here, as well as individuals looking to rent the space weekly for pop-up retail spaces," St. John says. "We really see no limit to what folks could do here. You will see some very familiar faces represented from a wide range of Seattle artistic communities."
The owners also want to see musicians doing video and photo shoots at Generations—part of a mandate to keep Capitol Hill an artistic epicenter.
St. John, who also works as a substitute teacher and runs a camp for disabled adults, says that Generations won't be as much of a music venue as Cairo was. "We want to see people's imaginations run wild with what they want to do with the space. We'll have our house events, but we're excited to see what other people want to do with this sort of expansive, newly shined-up space."
Generations will have tiered rental rates, from $20 to $100 an hour, that St. John says "are competitive and allow for a diverse use of the space by creative people of all mediums."
On October 7, Generations is throwing a grand opening party with drinks and DJs to introduce the space. On October 15, check out the pop-up vinyl sale, with about 10 vendors, organized by Stranger freelancer and Aesthetic Mess co-curator Travis Ritter, who'll also be DJing.
Is there any kind of event that Generations would not host? "We're not gonna book a rave or late-night electronic parties," St. John says. Butterworth adds, "Probably not pornography shoots."
