Author Archives: Melissa Smith

Nobody Walks in L.A., Except for the People Who Do

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If you take time to walk around Los Angeles, you might find yourself near this cat, chicken and ninja mural, too!

If you take time to walk around Los Angeles, you might find this cat, chicken and ninja mural.

Three weeks ago, Michael Schneider of the blog Franklin Avenue led a group of 300 from Los Angeles’ Echo Park neighborhood to the Pacific Ocean in Santa Monica. It’s 18 miles, a seven-hour walk. To give you a comparable sense of the distance, walking the length of Manhattan is 13.4 miles, and walking along Lake Michigan from Chicago’s downtown Loop to north suburb Evanston is about 13 miles. In other words, it’s pretty far. Continue reading →

Don’t Let the Winter Cramp Your Style. Get Out and Play!

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823998225_25237f4512_oIn case you didn’t know, Levitt Pavilions is based in Los Angeles. While we don’t see snow in the city, many of us are originally from cold weather climates (Wisconsin, Minnesota and Nebraska) or have spent significant time in places that can get very, very cold. So when we see creative placemaking projects that involve snow, we get really excited. OK, I get really excited. I suddenly have an urge to throw a snowball, lick an icicle, grease up a metallic disc sled or watch Home Alone. Continue reading →

Meet Wilbur Lloyd, Jazz Lover & Levitt Pasadena Audience Member

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It’s an early midsummer evening, just cool enough for a light sweater or jacket. You might not bring one at all. After all, the sun doesn’t set until after nine these nights.

There’s a light breeze as you walk over to the park in the center of town. When you arrive, you find the perfect spot for your folding chairs, snacks and good conversation. There’s jazz on tonight—it might be legendary jazz vocalist Barbara Morrison, pianist Yuko Mabuchi or GRAMMY-winning Ernie Watts Quartet. Whatever it is, it’s always great, and it’s always free, the way it has been for the past eleven years.

This is summer for Wilbur Lloyd, Harry James and Marshal James at Levitt Pavilion Pasadena. Continue reading →

Eight GRAMMY Nominations for Levitt Artists!

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2013 GRAMMY Nominated Levitt ArtistsThe 2014 GRAMMY nominations were announced last Friday, and once again, Levitt artists are tops! Continue reading →

Nelson Mandela

The Musical Legacy of Nelson Mandela

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Yesterday, the world lost one of its greatest inspirations for peace, justice and freedom. Nelson Mandela’s leadership in the struggle against apartheid influenced musicians in South Africa and around the world.

Tom Schnabel of Los Angeles’ public radio station KCRW featured a handful of the songs inspired by Mandela in a Rhythm Planet episode this past summer. Likewise, music played a huge role in Mandela’s life, as an NPR piece from this morning highlighted—listening to Bob Marley’s Exodus on cassette for Mandela and his fellow prisoners was almost like “prayer time.”
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Enough Pie for Artists and the Community in Charleston, S.C.?

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Charleston's historic district

Charleston’s historic district

When I think of Charleston, S.C., I think of Lowcountry shrimp and grits at Martha Lou’s, the exquisitely preserved neoclassical Nathaniel Russell House and the possibility of spotting nearby resident Bill “No One Will Ever Believe You” Murray. But now residents are doing their part to put the city on the map for other reasons: art and the local creative economy.
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5 Pointz, a Street Art Mecca in Queens, Nears Demolition Day

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5 Pointz

5 Pointz

Early Tuesday morning, a warehouse building in Long Island City, Queens, had its exterior walls painted white.

This would usually not be notable. But for the past 20 years, the 109-year-old building, lovingly-known as 5 Pointz, had been a refuge for New York’s graffiti and street artists who lived, worked and exhibited in the space. Tourists by the busload flocked to see four brick stories colorfully—and legally—covered by the spray paint, sharpies and chalk of over 1500 artists from France, Japan, Brazil and beyond. Street art aficionados noted their favorite tags, while others took in the Aztecan-meets-Keith Haring murals or off-kilter, post-apocalyptic scenes. But it all disappeared on Tuesday.

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For Anthony Bourdain, Detroit is All About the People

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Anthony Bourdain at Duly's in Detroit.

Anthony Bourdain at Duly’s in Detroit.

Last weekend, CNN aired season two’s last episode of urban enthusiast and traveling-chef extraordinaire Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown. And where was the final episode filmed? Detroit.

Bourdain loves Detroit. He loves Detroiters. He loves their tough sense of humor. In a blog post devoted to the city and episode, he writes, “Detroit isn’t just a national treasure. It IS America. And wherever you may live, you wouldn’t be there—and wouldn’t be who you are in the same way—without Detroit.”

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ARTreach: Making Art Available for All in Houston

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Life IS interesting when you're six! Making owl puppets with ARTreach. (via facebook)

Do you remember when you were six? Making owl puppets with ARTreach. (via facebook)

In anticipation of Levitt Pavilion Houston’s 2017 opening, we wanted to highlight the amazing work that an organization called ARTreach is doing in the greater Houston community.

Started in 2003 by organizer and child advocate Terri Payne Bieber, ARTreach trains artists and volunteers to bring art-related services and programs to children at risk, senior citizens and people with special needs. They also bring art to hospital patients and catastrophe survivors to help with the healing process.

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Levitt Pavilion Comes to Houston!

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Houston, the site of the eighth Levitt Pavilion. Photo: Katie Haugland

Houston, the site of the eighth Levitt Pavilion.
Photo: Katie Haugland

We’re thrilled to announce that Houston has been selected as the site of the eighth Levitt Pavilion! Levitt Pavilion Houston will be the crown jewel of the 280-acre Willow Waterhole Conservation Reserve in Southwest Houston’s Westbury neighborhood.

Just like Levitt’s six existing music venues across America (there’s a seventh in development in Denver’s Ruby Hill Park), Levitt Pavilion Houston will present 50 free, family-friendly concerts every year in a welcoming, outdoor setting for Greater Houston, home to a population of over six million people. When the sustainably designed venue opens in 2017, it will be able to accommodate up to 5,000 nightly concertgoers for a broad range of high quality concerts featuring acclaimed, emerging talent to seasoned, award-winning performers.

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