StageKids was conceived by Erin Gafill and Tom Birmingham in 1998. As Big Sur residents and parents, they saw a need for activities that local kids could participate in without having to go to ‘town’. With that in mind they created the Big Sur Arts Initiative (BSAI), a nonprofit arts education organization that provided arts and cultural opportunities to local children and their families. They invited Jaime Arze, a theater professional from Los Angeles, to join them in developing what would become Stagekids!, one of the first BSAI programs.

StageKids has now been running every summer since its inception, except for July 2020 and 2021. Through the more than two decades that StageKids has been in existence, and even with the transition of Erin, Tom, and Jaime to other creative pursuits, the philosophy of the program has remained the same; provide a safe space for students to create a weekly theater performance, invite the Big Sur community to participate as audience members and local support, supply an avenue for students to evolve from participants into leadership roles within the program and finally to become a beacon to the creative and supportive possibilities that this beautiful, and sometimes isolated community, can accomplish.