LightHouse Holyoke was cofounded by Josiah Litant and Catherine Gobron in 2015. Catherine had been Program Director at North Star: Self-Directed Learning for Teens, and Josiah served in multiple roles at Hampshire College—student, board member, Admissions Counselor, and eventually Dean of Students.
Together, they envisioned a new educational option in Holyoke. After a year-long listening tour, informed by community voices, hopes, and challenges, LightHouse was born—fueled by generosity, trust, and collaboration. One of the earliest champions of this vision was Lori Divine.
A few years after acquiring Gateway City Arts (GCA), Lori and her team also purchased and began renovating the STEAM Building at 208 Race Street—a former pipe factory just down the block. Lori offered LightHouse a generous step-up lease as first tenants, beginning at below-market rent so we could get established. It was a foundational gift we couldn't have done without.
In May, 2015, we signed that lease and began a rapid, inspired transformation. In just four months, a raw factory became a stunning 3,500 sq. ft. sanctuary for our first cohort of 19 students—thanks to the skill and commitment of our builder, Terrance Bernard, and our designer, Sarah Reid of Small Victories Design.
We had our first day lunch at GCA in what is now the Divine Theater, and our first graduation there in 2017 in what is now our dining room.
Nearly a decade later, this relationship came full circle. In July 2024, we purchased Lori Divine and Vitek Kruta’s original flagship, the Gateway City Arts complex at 92 Race Street. This 40,000 sq. ft. facility is now our permanent home.
Through a $1.5M community-powered fundraising effort and $2.5M in financing from Greenfield Northampton Cooperative Bank and MassDevelopment, we closed on the purchase on July 18, 2024—Josiah’s birthday—and reopened the school on September 3 after a whirlwind renovation by Houle Builders, HAI Architects, and again, Sarah Reid at Small Victories.
Enter Kyle Homstead, the impresario behind De la Luz and Technical Arts Director for both LightHouse Holyoke and the Hope Center for the Arts. Kyle began his career as a sound engineer as an intern at The Iron Horse in Northampton, Massachusetts at age 15. Guided by the mentorship of the legendary Art Steele, Kyle has toured the world as a sound engineer for groups like Solas and Sweet Honey in the Rock.
In 2020 Kyle cofounded Bombyx Center for Arts and Equity in Florence, Massachusetts and co-led the organization through summer, 2024.
In April, 2024, Kyle joined LightHouse to co-create the De la Luz Technical Arts Institute, leveraging the venues to provide real-world training in live event production for youth across Western Massachusetts.
On September 13, 2024, we reopened the performance venues—now renamed De la Luz Soundstage and De la Luz Divine Theater—with a sold-out show in collaboration with Secret Planet by Colombian tropicalia band La Sonora Mazuren, followed by a dance party with Deejay Theory.
Stay with us as our story continues! We now have students working with us at every show, and several alumni have returned to study sound engineering and live event production with us. Much more to come.