The Baton Rouge Center for the Visual and Performing Arts held its ribbon-cutting ceremony on Sept. 30 with dazzling performances, inspiring remarks and a joyful reception.
Joining in the ceremony were two beloved former principals, Mark Richterman and founder Julia Law.
“This ceremony represents the start of a new era of exploring possibilities, discovering talents and abilities, and thinking outside of the box. No, but creating our own box,” said BRCVPA Principal Dr. Louis Moore. “Our mission is to provide students with a rigorous, fun, arts-integrated education.”
Moore noted that school leaders stand on the shoulders of 88-year-old Julia Law, “the visionary” who established the school in 1996.
“It was a wonderful experience to lead this school,” Law said. “I’m so grateful to God for giving me the privilege to create this school and to see it reach the stage that it is in right now. It’s a wonderful legacy in my opinion, and I’m so happy to have been a part. It’s the greatest privilege of my professional career.”
The $34.4 million project, including $27 million in construction costs, was completed this summer in time for the 2025–26 school year.
The new 80,000-square-foot campus expanded the school’s student capacity from 450 to more than 600 and features:
- State-of-the-art black box theater.
- Expanded arts facilities.
- Modern classrooms and learning spaces.
“Let this space serve as a daily reminder creativity changes lives, passion fuels progress and when students thrive, our entire community thrives,” said Superintendent LaMont Cole. “Today, we cut this ribbon; we celebrate our community, we celebrate our city. But to our young people here, whether you attend school here or not, we celebrate you.”
BRCVPA first opened in 1996 in the former Walnut Hills Elementary building, which originally served the Hundred Oaks neighborhood from 1954.
During construction for two years, students and staff were temporarily housed at the former Kenilworth Middle School campus before moving into the new facility this fall.
Following the ceremony, attendees enjoyed a reception and student-led tours of the new campus.
