It's been a year since the Murder City Devils, Botch, and the Blood Brothers played a show to kick off the Vera Project's all-ages concert series and announce the organization's presence in Seattle. To mark the anniversary, Vera is throwing another party. This time around the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players, the Pinkos, and Paxil Rose are providing the rock and roll for a brainy and exciting anniversary bill.

Vera's back-story begins in Europe. The organization's co-founders, 28-year-old James Kelbas and 24-year-old Shannon Stewart, came up with the idea for Vera back in 1999, while studying urban planning and development at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. While attending school there, the two friends discovered the original Vera, a progressive, volunteer-run art and music venue funded by the Dutch government. When Kelbas and Stewart returned home, they did so with the idea of supplying Seattle with its own version of Vera, and so the Vera Project was born.

Of course, it wasn't that easy. Upon returning, both took jobs with the Seattle Arts Commission (jobs they have recently been able to give up) while going to work full-time on Vera as well. Around the same time Kelbas and Stewart began working on the project, Seattle's Music and Youth Task Force was scrambling to convince the council that a city-funded all-ages and performing arts venue was necessary. At the time, the task force was reeling from Mayor Paul Schell's infamous decision to veto the Seattle City Council's 7-1 repeal of the Teen Dance Ordinance. Thankfully, Schell approved the task force's recommendation for a city-funded venue.

"[Their recommendations] were exactly what we had already started to research and work out a model for," says Stewart. After an official proposal, the city council surprisingly agreed to give the Vera Project $25,000 to help begin operations. The money was then leveraged to raise another $45,000 from other city departments.

Cash in hand, Kate Becker--who was already a leader in the city's growing all-ages community, having run the Old Fire House in Redmond for the past 10 years--was called in to take charge of booking and to help run the organization. "I was attracted to the Vera Project because of their dedication and clarity of vision. [James, Shannon, and I] had very similar objectives in the work we were doing, so we teamed up together. We all hold a common belief that young and emerging artists and musicians deserve public support. Many of our tax dollars support sports and other intramural activities--but there are very few opportunities for young people who are more interested in music and art. I am trying to help change this."

With Becker on board, the Vera Project took shape, and all three of Vera's key players are pleased with the progress the organization has made. They're almost overwhelmed with the amount of community support they've received, and, with funding secured for another year, Vera is busy planning for the future.

"We're going to continue doing lots of collaborating with other organizations," Kelbas explains. "I'm also looking forward to developing workshop curriculums, running people through a very complete process of learning how to be a sound person or an engineer. And we're going to be doing a summer concert series at the Seattle Center's Mural Amphitheater. [Summer concert series] Pain in the Grass is no longer happening, so we're going to take over. I'm really excited about that."

The organization will also continue its Saturday night shows at Local 46 in Belltown. Because the Vera Project has yet to purchase a permanent space, the organization has been forced to rent the venue for all of its events, making it difficult to do the volume of programming it would like.

"We've been trying to incorporate other things into the mix, but it's pretty much all around music," Kelbas says. "That won't change until we're able to move into our own venue and do four or five nights of programming a week."

"We just want to make sure that we're not jumping into something we're not ready for," Stewart adds. "The thing about nonprofits getting into owning a facility is that it could be the end of them."

Though Vera's funding was threatened last year during an examination of the city's budget, overwhelming support from youths (who showed up at public hearings in droves) and concerned adults helped keep Vera a priority for the city. The organization has been granted $75,000 for 2002.

"James and I have this idea that we cling to, which is that the original Vera has been around for over 100 years, and it's gone through several metamorphoses," Stewart offers. "That's the kind of organization we want to build. One that can grow and change with the needs of the community."

Kelbas is equally optimistic. "As long as we keep doing good programming--have good shows and a lot of volunteers keeping the organization healthy--the support will follow."