SC Buys
The Catalyst

Right now you're registering your intent to contribute — not sending money. This is your declaration that you want in before the window closes. No money moves until the legal cooperative structure is confirmed and the Kickstarter campaign goes live.

Once the legal structure is confirmed, a Kickstarter campaign will launch where you make your official financial pledge. Kickstarter is all-or-nothing — meaning your money is only collected if we hit the full goal. Everyone who registers intent now will be first to know when Kickstarter goes live.

The Catalyst will be owned through a California cooperative corporation — a legal structure where members share ownership. Every member gets one vote regardless of how much they pledged. Profit sharing is proportional to pledge amount. Think Green Bay Packers — 360,000 ordinary people own the team, no billionaire can move it, no hedge fund can gut it. That's the model we're applying to the Catalyst.

$45 is the average price of a ticket to a show at the Catalyst. You've already paid to be in that building. Now you can help own it. Pledge more if you can — every dollar above $45 means fewer people needed to hit the $4.5M goal.

Because we're using Kickstarter's all-or-nothing model, no money is collected if we don't reach the goal. Your pledge is non-binding until the campaign closes successfully. There is zero financial risk in registering your intent now.

This initiative is being organized by Jay Brown — creative director, story designer, and media producer — operating under Mindfraime, a creative direction and story design studio built for community and culture. In partnership with Jeremy Stone, Santa Cruz Arts Commissioner and founder of Sonivore, and backed by the Cultural Hub Coalition — Santa Cruz's most influential cultural institutions whose owners and executives have been meeting together for months. Read the full partner brief →

The Mayor of Santa Cruz confirmed in writing that the City cannot stop this development. A Silicon Valley firm has already filed a preapplication to demolish the building. Outside capital moves fast. We're not waiting for a crisis to tell us what we're capable of. We're giving ourselves one week to prove that Santa Cruz can mobilize before it has to — not after it's too late.