Leveraging the capabilities of our new facility, LightHouse Holyoke has launched De la Luz Technical Arts Institute, a dynamic live performance venue coupled with a comprehensive music business training program in the former Gateway City Arts venue in downtown Holyoke. Each event at De la Luz is produced by a small cohort of Technical Arts Institute youth: LightHouse students, alumni, and young adult interns, guided and supported by experienced staff.
The program currently has three tracks: (1) Stagecraft: a hands-on vocational track where youth learn technical production skills such as sound engineering, lighting design, and video production; (2) Producers: a cohort based program where youth work alongside professional event producers through the entire lifecycle of promoting a concert - from talent buying, budgeting and marketing, through execution on day of show; and (3) a multi-faceted commercial kitchen operation producing fresh, daily lunches as well as inspiring menus paired with events.
The vocational program dovetails with work opportunities and job placement for those interested in taking their skills on out into the world. Whether youth decide to pursue related careers or not, these experiences have broad applicability in just about any field (project management, collaboration, communication, marketing, audience building, and budgeting).
De la Luz Technical Arts Institute launched in July, 2024 with an initial cohort of youth. After a couple weeks of training the crew joined the team producing Hartford Live, a weekly pop-up concert produced by
GoodWorks Entertainment in downtown Hartford, CT.
In the very near future De la Luz Technical Arts Institute will expand to include additional vocational tracks open to youth throughout Western Massachusetts. In addition to stagecraft, production, and culinary, future social enterprise vocational tracks will include carpentry, social media marketing, video production, bike repair, plant propagation and sales, and other arts-focused professional training.
