A note about CHS alt text: As a small community news provider, production time on the site sometimes gets cut short and we have frequently fallen short of the mark when it comes to certain usability features. Adding useful, descriptive alt text to our images is an ongoing challenge but we’ve been hoping to do a better job with it. For this story on the communities around Visually Speaking, it is a good time for us to pledge to do better. Alt text is a valuable element for all users. Please provide feedback as we try to make sure to meet a higher standard with all of our images here and across our social media posts and updates. Thanks!

(Image: Visually Speaking)

Since moving to Capitol Hill 15 years ago, Kellie Gillespie has wanted to create a safe, inclusive, and dedicated space that could serve the Deaf and hearing communities alike by offering opportunities to socialize, network, and teach/learn American Sign Language.

“I’ve toyed with creating a space where ASL thrives,” explained Gillespie, the CEO of Visually Speaking, a company that offers ASL courses taught by Deaf instructors.

“Over the years, conversations with others made me realize that I’m the one who has to make it happen. ASL students often asked me, ‘Where can I go to practice?’ I never had a good answer—until now.”

This weekend marks the grand opening of Capitol Hill’s Voices Off Lounge. Located in Broadway’s 1905-built Capitol Crest Building—in a walk-up space formerly occupied by ACE Barbershop and $pent Studio—the new venue will offer a variety of six-week ASL courses taught by Visually Speaking instructors with hopes of also growing as a hub for the Deaf community.

“There’s an overwhelming demand from students who want to continue signing and Deaf individuals in desperate need of social spaces,” Gillespie tells CHS. “This new space is not just for ASL practice—it will serve as a dedicated place for community-building.”

The Voices Off Lounge will host two grand-opening celebrations—one on Fri., Jan. 31, 5-8 p.m., for the Deaf community (Deaf, DeafBlind, Hard of Hearing, cochlear implants, hearing aids, and no-voice/mute); and one on Sat., Feb. 1, 5-8 p.m., for all community members (hearing and Deaf). More information about Visually Speaking and the Voices Off Lounge is available online here. You can sign up for their newsletter here.

This isn’t the first iteration of the Voices Off Lounge. Two years ago, they partnered with Seattle Restored, a City of Seattle program that reactivates empty storefronts, to open a five-month pop-up downtown at Second Avenue and Spring Street in offices formerly occupied by the Washington State Department of Licensing. That experience inspired them to spend most of last year scouting locations, forging partnerships, and gathering input from the Deaf community to open another Voices Off Lounge pop-up, this time on Capitol Hill.

“Many people may not know that Capitol Hill was historically a hub for the Deaf community,” explained Gillespie, who was born Deaf. “Capitol Hill used to be a vibrant space for socializing, networking, and building connections, especially before the Interpreter Training Program at Seattle Central College was shut down in 2011. After that, the community lost a vital space for Deaf socialization, and the decline of ASL-centric spaces began. This left a huge gap that we’re working to fill.”

Today, the neighborhood is home to events such as ASL meetups at Boona Boona Coffee (Sundays, 1–3 p.m.), free ASL classes at CC’s Seattle (Thursdays, 7 p.m.), and ASL Happy Hour at the Hopvine Pub (Mondays, 5–7 p.m.; Gillespie is the bartender). You might have noticed the ASL Lounge’s booth if you’ve recently visited the Capitol Hill Farmer’s Market.

A self-described “Deafqueer” badass, Gillespie was fitted with hearing aids at 18 months old, and relied on reading lips, deciphering body language, and the use of hearing aids throughout their childhood and college years. At age 23, they were living in San Francisco and connected with the DeafQueer Resource Center, finally learning ASL.

They spent 10 years as an embalmer and funeral director in California, having earned a bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology and Exercise Science at the University of Colorado (Boulder) and an associate of arts degree in Funeral Service and Mortuary Science at the San Francisco College of Mortuary Science.

“As a funeral director using hearing aids, I encountered many challenges and eventually realized that I could never fully function as a hearing person in that role,” Gillespie said.

Gillespie moved to the East Coast and switched careers entirely, working at Trader Joe’s for 12 years. “That taught me a lot about people. I started that job in Atlanta with hearing aids for two years, absorbing everything I could. When I moved to Seattle, I challenged myself to work without hearing aids. That decision made a huge difference—I noticed my stress levels dropped, my anxiety eased, and I felt much happier overall.”

New to Seattle in 2010, Gillespie soon applied for a part-time teaching position at Visually Speaking, eventually taking over the business.

Gillespie hopes the Voices Off Lounge is a space where everyone can feel comfortable using ASL, adding, “This is about creating a community-driven revolution of connection, accessibility, and opportunity.”

The Voices Off Lounge is located at 819 E Denny Way. Learn more at visuallyspeaking.info.

HELP KEEP CHS PAYWALL-FREE
Subscribe to CHS to help us hire writers and photographers to cover the neighborhood. CHS is a pay what you can community news site with no required sign-in or paywall. To stay that way, we need you.

Become a subscriber to help us cover the neighborhood for as little as $5 a month.