Jen Maddux, the Education and Community Engagement Director for Richmond Performing Arts Alliance (RPAA), has informally become known by participants as the “Lights Up! Lady.” The Lights Up! Youth Series is a bimonthly event series that takes place in schools and community centers during the arts season. Programs offer youth of all ages the opportunity to participate in visual and performing arts workshops and enjoy performances by local arts groups at no cost.
Jen works with the partnering host locations to determine programming needs. From there, individual artists and educators are hired by RPAA to carry out workshops designed to serve as an entrance point to the arts. As a former arts educator, Jen knows firsthand the impact that the arts play in a young person’s life. At last season’s Lights Up! Grand Finale, she ran into a former student from her middle school chorus teaching days who was present with their child. The student’s daughter recounted in excitement all of the workshops that she had just participated in, a look of joy on her face. Jen says, “Knowing that I not only had the privilege to introduce the arts to her in middle school, but that her love of the arts is now being instilled in her daughter is both gratifying and inspiring!”
The past few seasons, this series has been “on the road” to bring programming to different areas of the region. Nevertheless, there are families who follow RPAA to multiple locations a season, looking for opportunities to expose their children to a range of art forms to find the right fit for them. “I had a couple approach me at a recent event to share that they attended Lights Up! with their child at the Perkinson Center in Chester. Their daughter participated in an audition technique workshop with Broken Leg Theater and loved it so much that she began taking classes with them on a regular basis! They were so happy to have found an outlet for their child at a local organization that they had not previously heard of. That is one of many stories that I am privileged to hear on a regular basis and drives the work that we do,” Jen shares.
As the organization behind Altria Theater and Dominion Energy Center for the Performing Arts, a pillar of RPAA’s mission is to nurture the artists of tomorrow by creating opportunities that serve as a pathway for young artists so that one day they may find themselves performing on stages like the ones in the venues it supports. The arts play an impact in endless facets of daily life. Cultivating that curiosity early on promotes learning, well-being, and crafts a better society for everyone.
Remainder of Lights Up! Season
This month! Pine Camp Cultural Arts and Community Center
November 22, 2025 | 10:00 AM
Perkinson Center for the Arts & Education
January 31, 2026 | 10:00 AM
Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen
March 7, 2026 | 10:00 AM
Grand Finale!
Dominion Energy Center for the Performing Arts
May 2, 2026 | 10:00 AM
Learn more about the Lights Up! Youth Series: https://rpaalliance.com/lights-up/
Learn more about Arts Impact, courtesy of Americans for the Arts: https://ww2.americansforthearts.org/explorer
Photos provided by Caleb Wade.
