Hi! I’m Kari, the owner and director of Reel Kids and Boulder Music. For more than 16 years, we’ve been creating a place where young people can learn, perform, make music, tell stories, and—most importantly—feel like they belong.

And we’ve outgrown our home.

What started as a small arts program has grown into a community of young actors, musicians, singers, dancers, filmmakers, teachers, families, and artists. For the past 14 months, nearly every one of our productions has sold out before opening night. And our upcoming production of Annie has a record-breaking 48 participants—the largest cast and crew we’ve ever had.

We need more room—not because something has gone wrong, but because something has gone wonderfully right.

Now, we have an incredible opportunity to move into a new 18,000-square-foot home and build the next chapter of Reel Kids and Boulder Music.

The new space will give our students room to learn, rehearse, create, make music, perform, and simply be together. It also gives us the opportunity to build a flexible performance space capable of seating approximately 110 people, with a 35' × 25' stage, raised audience seating, professional sound and lighting, and space for both theater and music.

But right now, much of that future performance space is still a gym.

That’s where we need your help.

We’ve carefully planned the first phase of the buildout, and we estimate it will cost approximately $62,360 to turn this empty space into a working theater and creative home.

Funds raised will help pay for:

- Professional sound equipment and wireless microphones

- Theatrical curtains, rigging, and supports

- Lighting infrastructure and theatrical lighting

- A stage and raised audience seating

- Carpet and finishing materials

- Projection equipment

- Painting and repairs

- Security and controlled-entry equipment

- Limited paid labor to help us build it all

Want to see exactly where the money will go?

We’ve created a detailed, item-by-item buildout budget, including estimated costs and links to the equipment and materials we’re planning to purchase. View our full buildout budget here

We’re working hard to stretch every dollar. We’re reusing equipment we already own, sourcing used equipment when it makes sense, doing as much of the work ourselves as we safely can, and keeping paid labor to a minimum.

The photos here show exactly what we mean: where we are going, what we hope to build, what we already do, and—most importantly—the young people we’re building it for.

This is much more than a move.

It’s a chance to give the community we’ve spent 16 years growing a home big enough for what it has become—and for everything it can become next.

Whether you can donate $10, $50, $500, or simply share this fundraiser with someone who believes young people deserve places to create and belong, you are helping us build that next chapter.

Thank you for believing in Reel Kids, Boulder Music, and the thousands of stories still waiting to be told.

—Kari Kraakevik, Reel Kids Owner