MUSIC
Subculture sanctum THE SANCTUARY, OKC’S NEWEST UNDERGROUND VENUE, THRIVES AS A PUNK ETHOS SAFE SPACE FOR ALL AGES. By Evan Jarvicks
Like a flower blooming from a cracked sidewalk, Oklahoma City’s DIY scene has always found a way. The last few years have seen a pandemic decimate the live music world, and when compounded with the usual punk community struggles ( house venue regulation crackdowns, threadbare economics, etc.), OKC has been a particularly inhospitable place for a movement that prioritizes artistic freedom over financial viability. A lthough locals have continued to find fissures in the pavement, DIY isn’t the garden it could be if given the space, nutrients, and centralized TLC to thrive. This is why The Sanctuary, behind all of its sweaty mosh pits and mounted bestial heads, exists. Sharing a space with Beloved Bones, an oddity store most recognized for its taxidermy, The Sanctuary lives within an antique shopping strip that corners NW 10th and May Ave. Complete with an intimate low-capacity main room and a quaint back patio, the all-ages DIY venue and creative arts collective has proven a popular gathering point for young, alternative crowds in the metro area. The gothic overtones of Beloved Bones creates a unique identity that helps punk and metal music performances in particular feel at home. With musicians playing mere inches away from audiences at ground level — there are lights and sound but decidedly no stage — the all-ages venue has hosted numerous out-of-state acts, including death sludge ba nd Primitive Man on a sold-out date of its 10th-anniversary tour in May. The majority of the venue’s shows, however, feature local bands and artists, and while the harsher niches of rock tend to be The Sanctuary’s wheelhouse, it has been open to all varieties of sound from the beginning. “Our first show was a techno show that my friend Taylor put on with local DJs and one from out of town,” owner Mekala
Littleton said. “ We h a d a crazy turnout, a n d it f e lt really special to sha re the building with ever yone for the first time. We received a lot of positive feedback and encouragement, and it meant ever y- Social Cinema performs at The Sanctuary. Photo by Elecktra Stanislava thing to us.” fringe venue upsta r ts like Littleton, who owns both The Wa r e h ou s e B a n d F i r s t Sanctuary and Beloved Bones, Pastafarian Church of Norman, cites the community as a key mothe shared space business model tivation for opening the space. is already providing more fruitful After years of cultivating a small returns on average. The prospects business with her natural creare promising. ations and antique finds, paying “For our first few months of booth rent here and selling online being open, we’ve been focused there, she knew that a brick-andprimarily on hosting live music,” mortar storefront was in Beloved Littleton said. “Long-term, we Bones’ not-so-distant future. really want to offer more creative However, it was the need for an and related events such as art all-ages DIY venue that led her to shows, cinema nights, poetry fast-track her plans and include nights, and art workshops … I The Sanctuary. want to host free workshops on “After some serious thought, I simple music lessons--how to decided that it made sense to give start punk bands, learn basic it a try now, and the community chords or progressions, that kind was on board,” Littleton said. “At of thing--art shows, plant swaps, that point, ever y thing just small business popups, cookouts, started falling into place, and all fundraisers, skate nights, paint of my focus shifted towards figand wine sort of events. I’d really uring out what we needed to do love to have other artists and creto make it happen.” atives come in and teach their Beyond the immediate support own trades to others as well.” of her partner and close friends, Amongst small businesses from Littleton’s mission found assisbookstores to coffee shops to distance beyond the city and even pensaries, this desire to include the state. To help get The more local arts events is not unSanctuar y up and running, c om mon . W h at s et s T he T u l s a ’s M a s s Mo v e m e nt Sanctuary apart is a threefold Community Arts collective threw manifesto. It puts these events at a fundraising concert last year, the forefront of its mission rather and Littleton found further than view them as ancillary, it funding through internationally offers a one-of-a-kind immersive crowdsourced microfinancial gothic atmosphere in which they nonprofit Kiva. With deposits can be conducted, and it makes paid and everything up to spec, significant efforts to be a safe doors of f icia lly opened in space for its community. The February. Although only time ulvenue’s name holds all of these t i m ately w i l l tel l i f T he layers of meaning. Sanctuary’s lifespan will outper“The word ‘sanctuary’ often form past greater metropolitan suggests the idea of refuge, safety,
or a sacred space, and that’s really what I wanted The Sanctuary to be,” Littleton said. “A safe, inclusive, and diverse space where folks know we’re here and investing ourselves into the community because we care and want to invite them to invest themselves as well and help us build an even better underground creative community in Oklahoma.” While the local scene has mostly taken notice of The Sanctuary for its consistent promotion of allages fringe genre shows, those who have visited tend to come away with a greater sense of value for what the space provides. “My entry point into the OKC music scene was through the folk and indie rock subgenres,” John Schlenner, one avid concertgoer, said. “Although The Sanctuary tends to host more shows in the metal and punk spaces, it has still instantly become one of my favorite venues … I know that the venue will always be a welcoming place and a safe space for folks who are less privileged than myself, which is something that is so important to have in this city and state these days.” Like the art of taxidermy, The Sanctuary fills a void to rejuvenate life in an often overlooked place. With empathetic care, purposeful work, and a passionate eye for unorthodox beauty, the venue is not satisfied with merely keeping the lights on. It wants to be an inner glow that inspires.
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