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Conru Art Foundation·Private Tour·Summer of Awe
An exploration of historic buildings nobody has been allowed to see. The Lusty Lady, locked since 2010. The 1916 Coliseum, sealed behind a retail-era drop ceiling for thirty years. For one summer, we are unlocking the doors and walking you through. About sixty minutes, hardhats on.
Lost Worlds · The Coliseum
Behind the retail-era drop ceiling and the painted-over walls, the original 1916 theatre is largely intact. Real photos from CAF walkthroughs.
See what it looked like before
Inside the Coliseum · today
The hidden balcony · 2025
Original ornament · today
The climb · impression
Lost Worlds · The Lusty Lady
Real photos from CAF walkthroughs, ’22–’25. The peep-show booths came out. The marquee came down. The 1893 brick walls and wood beams have been there the whole time. Walk inside on the tour and we’ll show you what comes next.
About the Lusty Lady
The gutted main floor · 2025
The 1st Avenue facade · 2022
The alley side · 2024
Across from the Hammering Man
The tour walks the whole space, top to bottom. We tell you what was here, what we found, and what comes next.
On Camera
Until you can climb it yourself.
See what the Coliseum looked like beforeRaw walkthrough above the Coliseum drop ceiling. The first time anyone in a generation had stood up there. Hand-held, half-dark. Get a sense of the climb before you book.
Before You Walk
These are working historical buildings opened up for a single summer of exploration. The route inside passes through unfinished spaces, original 1893 and 1916 staircases, and areas still filled with equipment from prior tenants. Hardhats are required and provided at check-in. Closed-toe shoes recommended.
The Route
Salon → Lusty Lady → Coliseum, twelve minutes of walking end-to-end. Tour guides run the loop in both directions through the day, so the order flips for some groups but the buildings are the same.
The Art Love Salon · 110 Union St, Floor 4
A private fourth-floor gallery. You meet your guide here, get a hardhat, and look at what is currently up on the walls. Drinks are usually open. Then we walk a few blocks down the hill, together.
The 1893 Seven Seas Building · 1315 1st Ave
A door that has been locked since 2010. Behind it: the 1893 brick walls, exposed wood beams, and the original peep-show booths still in place. CAF unlocks it for the tour. Almost no one outside the foundation has been inside.
The 1916 Coliseum Theatre · Pike & 5th
The cathedral nobody knew was there. Behind the retail-era drop ceiling and the painted-over walls, the original 1916 theatre is largely intact. We walk the main floor and look up at the original gilded plaster ornament still in place above.
Sealed since the 1990s · the original spiral
Hardhats on, lights on. We unlock a door that was sealed for thirty years and climb the original spiral to the upper balcony, where the ornament is at hand height and the view down is straight onto the cathedral floor below.
The Coliseum of Art · all summer
Back down on the main floor, the tour ends inside the show. Fifty installations, a thirty-foot LED wall, and museum-grade gallery walls programmed all summer by CAF curators. You walk out through the front of the building.
Visit The Coliseum of ArtReserve a Spot
Tours run every 30 minutes from 11:00 AM (last tour 4:30 PM), capped at 12 people each, led by our CAF staff. Closed Mondays. Pick a slot, lock it in, and we will meet you at the Salon with a hardhat.
Group / private tours & press requests: tours@conruartfoundation.org
Press Inquiries
Press tour first week of June, ahead of the public opening. Print, digital, and broadcast welcome.