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At 2107 Westlake Avenue in Seattle’s South Lake Union, paint-splattered easels, unfinished studies, communal tables, and working artists occupy a purpose-built facility at the base of Amazon’s 37-story re:Invent tower. The tenant is Gage Academy of Art, a nonprofit school founded in 1989 that moved from a century-old Capitol Hill building into approximately 14,000 square feet of new studios and classrooms.
The result is not an art school inside Amazon’s offices. It is a street-level, independently operated arts facility set within the larger Amazon campus—an unusually direct meeting of corporate real estate, fine-art education, and downtown civic ambitions.
From a hidden Capitol Hill building to Westlake Avenue
Gage Academy of Art has taught drawing, painting, and sculpture in Seattle for decades. Gary Faigin and Pamela Belyea founded the school in 1989, and before the move it operated from a roughly 100-year-old building in Capitol Hill. That setting gave Gage an established artistic identity, but it was comparatively easy to miss.
The South Lake Union location changes the school’s physical and urban context. Its new address, 2107 Westlake Ave., places Gage on a prominent street corner surrounded by Amazon offices, retail, residences, restaurants, and public transportation. Gage’s own visitor information identifies the facility as a custom-built space designed by NBBJ, the Seattle architecture firm also associated with Amazon’s headquarters campus. GeekWire’s 2024 tour of the building described the school as occupying two floors at the base of the re:Invent tower.
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Amazon announced the relocation on November 13, 2023, saying Gage would move into the building during 2024. Gage’s relocation materials indicated a summer move, and GeekWire published its tour on August 30, 2024. The school is now listed by Gage as an operating South Lake Union facility; its visitor page, verified August 12, 2026, includes directions, transit information, and parking guidance.
What the new Gage looks like
The most striking feature is the contrast between the building’s polished corporate surroundings and the visible evidence of art-making inside. GeekWire observed easels and tables marked by paint, paintings propped around rooms, plywood and corrugated-plastic finishes, reused materials, and furniture donated by companies downsizing office space. One wall treatment incorporated the tops of old paint-covered desks from Gage’s former home.
Those details make the facility feel like a working school rather than a showroom. Materials are not hidden; they are part of the architecture’s visual language. Paint residue, drying work, palettes, models, art books, and improvised surfaces show that the rooms are designed for use, revision, and mess.
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At street level, a vestibule has been converted into a gallery. That gives passersby a chance to encounter student or community work before entering a classroom. Gage also describes communal gathering areas, flexible classrooms, abundant natural light, state-of-the-art ventilation, and full ADA accessibility. The combination matters for an art school: flexible rooms can support different class formats, while ventilation is particularly important in studios handling paints, solvents, dust, and other materials.
The building’s lighting was another practical design consideration. GeekWire reported that one studio used highly controllable lighting with different color-temperature settings. That kind of flexibility is useful for painting and portrait study, where the appearance of a subject and the perceived color of a finished work can change significantly under different light sources. A home painter trying to recreate the principle can start with an adjustable studio light, while recognizing that a consumer fixture is not equivalent to a professionally designed classroom installation.
How the facility fits into Amazon’s campus
Gage occupies space at the base of Amazon’s re:Invent tower or complex; it should not be described as being “inside Amazon’s offices.” Nor do the available sources establish a complete current title record for the entire tower. Gage’s campaign materials describe Amazon as the owner of the leased space, while the school itself operates as the arts tenant.
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The distinction helps explain why the arrangement is notable. Amazon’s Seattle headquarters is a large, mixed-use campus rather than a sealed collection of office floors. Architectural Record’s account of the NBBJ-designed headquarters describes a 3.3-million-square-foot complex of towers and lower structures with public paths, plazas, retail, dining, and community-facing areas. A street-level art school fits that broader strategy more naturally than a conventional private office tenant would.
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Inside the Gage facility, however, the design does not attempt to reproduce the visual language of a technology workplace. The rougher, reused, and visibly marked materials create a counterpoint to the glass, steel, landscaping, and carefully finished public spaces associated with a major corporate campus. The contrast is descriptive rather than a measurable claim about the neighborhood: software production and fine-art production are simply being placed unusually close together.
The financial support behind the move
The relocation was made possible by more than a change of address. GeekWire reported that Amazon was providing Gage with more than $7.5 million in rent assistance over 10 years and had offset a significant portion of construction and space-improvement costs. That figure comes from GeekWire’s reporting, not a publicly available lease or direct Amazon financial disclosure, so it should be understood with that attribution.
Amazon’s own November 2023 announcement framed the partnership as part of its community presence in the Puget Sound region. John Schoettler, Amazon’s vice president of Global Real Estate and Facilities, said creating space for the arts was important to a thriving downtown. The announcement also described Gage as an established Seattle institution and said the school served more than 3,000 adults and young people each year, while approximately 8,000 additional community members took part in lectures, family events, community programs, and online programming through Gage’s campus and partner locations.
Those enrollment and participation figures are organization-reported figures cited by Amazon and Gage; they are not presented here as independently audited measurements. They nevertheless indicate the scale of the institution Amazon was supporting: not a small private studio, but a nonprofit with classes, ateliers, workshops, youth programming, lectures, and public events.
Gage’s campaign materials describe the arrangement as a partnership intended to make high-quality space available at 2105/2107 Westlake Avenue, activate street-level retail space as a creative hub, and connect arts activity with technology, health care, higher education, and social-service organizations. That is Gage’s stated strategic rationale and should be read as the school’s description of its ambitions, not as an independent evaluation of the project’s effects.
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This partnership began before the building move
The relationship between Gage and Amazon did not begin with the lease. According to GeekWire, Gage had participated since 2019 in Amazon’s Expressions program, providing art classes for Amazon employees.
That earlier connection gives the relocation a more practical explanation. Amazon employees could encounter Gage through workplace programming, while the new facility offered them access to a complete art school nearby. For Gage, the arrangement extended an existing institutional relationship into a permanent physical presence. It also gave the school a chance to serve people beyond the company: its classrooms and public-facing gallery are part of a broader South Lake Union setting, not an employee-only amenity.
A working school, not merely a cultural display
Gage’s core disciplines remain drawing, painting, and sculpture. Its programs include adult classes, youth instruction, workshops, and ateliers, with registration continuing through the school’s website. The new facility’s flexible rooms can accommodate different forms of teaching, from structured drawing sessions to painting classes and sculpture-related work.
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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsDuring GeekWire’s 2024 tour, Gage said roughly 100 to 120 students passed through its programs each day, supported by a couple dozen employees and working artists across instruction and administration. Those numbers describe the operation observed at that time; they should not be treated as a current enrollment total without a newer source.
The school’s importance is therefore not limited to the visual novelty of easels beneath a technology tower. Art education requires recurring access to instructors, models, tools, studio space, critique, and peers. A gallery vestibule can make work visible, but the more consequential infrastructure is behind it: classrooms that can be used repeatedly, ventilation suitable for studio activity, storage and communal space, and an address accessible to a large urban population.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Could corporate real estate become cultural infrastructure?
The timing gives the project a larger significance. After the pandemic, Seattle organizations and companies were searching for ways to increase street-level activity and make downtown spaces feel more connected to public life. An arts school offers something different from a retail or office use: people arrive to learn, make, teach, attend events, and see work in progress.
Gage’s executive director has described the arrangement as a possible proof of concept for other technology companies. The idea is straightforward: rather than allowing excess or underused real estate to remain inactive, a company could help an arts organization establish a durable presence. In that sense, the Gage project asks whether corporate campuses can contribute space and money to cultural institutions without turning those institutions into mere branding exercises.
That remains a possibility, not a demonstrated result. The available reporting does not establish that the relocation caused measurable downtown recovery, increased property values, or definitively revitalized South Lake Union. It documents a supported arts tenancy, a more visible location, and a stated goal of community activation. Assessing the long-term effects would require data on attendance, neighborhood foot traffic, financial sustainability, accessibility, and the school’s ability to maintain its programming over time.
There are also unavoidable questions about dependence and identity. Amazon’s support is central to the project, and a long-term rent-assistance arrangement can provide stability while also tying a nonprofit’s physical presence to a major corporate landlord. Gage’s independent programming and nonprofit mission will matter as much as the building’s design in determining whether the partnership becomes lasting civic infrastructure.
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- 1989: Gary Faigin and Pamela Belyea founded Gage Academy of Art.
- 2019: Gage began participating in Amazon’s Expressions employee arts program, according to GeekWire.
- November 13, 2023: Amazon announced that Gage would move into the re:Invent building in 2024.
- Summer 2024: Gage’s relocation materials said the move to 2107 Westlake Avenue would take place during the summer.
- August 30, 2024: GeekWire published its tour of the new facility.
- September 7, 2024: GeekWire reported on a planned open house with demonstrations and activities. That event date is historical, not an upcoming listing.
- August 12, 2026: Gage’s official visitor page verified the South Lake Union facility as an operating location and provided current visitor information.
What visitors should know
Gage’s official visitor information page is the appropriate source for current directions, transit, parking, and access details. The facility is at 2107 Westlake Avenue in South Lake Union, but class schedules, gallery access, and public events can change. Readers should check Gage directly before visiting rather than relying on the historical open-house date or on descriptions from the 2024 opening period.
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For Seattle, the important change is not simply that an arts organization moved into a new building. It is that a school built around observation, craft, and physical materials now occupies a highly visible threshold in a technology-centered district. The gallery, studios, and classrooms bring the work of making into view—and make the question of who downtown space serves impossible to overlook.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Gage Academy of Art’s South Lake Union location?
Gage Academy of Art is at 2107 Westlake Avenue in Seattle, at the base of Amazon’s 37-story re:Invent tower or complex. Check Gage’s official visitor page for current transit, parking, access, and event information.
Is Gage Academy of Art inside Amazon’s offices?
No. Gage occupies a purpose-built, street-level arts facility at the base of the re:Invent tower. It is a Gage-operated school, not an art classroom located inside Amazon’s office floors.
How much support did Amazon provide?
GeekWire reported more than $7.5 million in rent assistance over 10 years, along with substantial construction and space-improvement support. The rent figure is reported by GeekWire and should not be treated as a direct Amazon financial disclosure.
What does Gage Academy teach?
Gage’s principal disciplines are drawing, painting, and sculpture. Its programming includes adult classes, youth programs, ateliers, workshops, lectures, and community events.
Can the public visit Gage’s gallery or attend classes?
Gage operates public-facing programming and lists current visitor information online, but access, registration, gallery hours, and events may vary. Consult Gage’s official website before making a trip.
The Bottom Line
Gage’s move places a working nonprofit art school—not merely an artwork or corporate collection—at the street-level edge of Amazon’s Seattle headquarters. Its reused materials, paint-marked furniture, studios, gallery, and public programs create a visible counterpoint to the surrounding technology campus. Whether the arrangement becomes a model for turning corporate real estate into lasting cultural infrastructure will depend on its long-term accessibility, independence, and community use.
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