His 15-year tenure at the Victoria included oversight of the construction and opening of the $121 million Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center in 2003. Under his direction, annual income for the Victoria has grown to over $21 million, and attendance has jumped from a few thousand into the hundreds of thousands. In 1998, the Victoria took over the Dayton Opera, which was near bankruptcy; Light helped double the opera's revenues.

Light, who came to Dayton from executive positions at the Louisville Ballet and the Virginia Opera, told the Daily News that the period of arts growth in Dayton to which his leadership skills were suited had ended. He plans to finish two books on management that he has been writing, attend to his consulting business, and spend time with his family.

His successor has not been announced.