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(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.

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