Category Archives: Arts Access

Find your musical mojo with lessons from a local artist

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music lessons blog headerMusical instruments are a fantastic way to channel your creative energy while staying at home, but they’re most enjoyable (both for you and, ahem, those you live with) when you actually know how to play them. If you’ve been noodling around on that dusty guitar or keyboard for a few weeks, now is the perfect time to start taking lessons. Ads for celebrity-taught music classes on platforms like Masterclass have been highly visible across the internet lately, but there’s also a wealth of musical knowledge right in your community: local musicians! In addition to enriching your musical knowledge, taking lessons from a local artist is also an excellent way to support their wellbeing. 

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Where to watch virtual Levitt concerts

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Left to right: Esme Patterson, Jenny and the Mexicats, Brainstory

Across the country, permanent Levitt venues and Levitt AMP grantees are taking to social media to broadcast virtual concerts you can enjoy  from home. While we all miss the in-person concert experience, these streams allow us to transcend the confines of geography and experience live music together in an entirely new way. We’ll continue to update this list of virtual Levitt concerts as more are added. Happy virtual concertgoing! Continue reading →

The economic impact of the arts in rural
communities revealed in new NEA report

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Last month, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) released Rural Arts, Design and Innovation in America: Research Findings from the Rural Establishment Innovation Survey. The report pulls compelling findings from data captured in the 2014 Rural Establishment Innovation Survey (REIS)—illustrating the economic impact of the arts in rural communities by identifying key patterns and relationships among arts organizations, design-integrated firms and business innovators in rural settings. We enjoyed this report so much, we created the infographic above to highlight a few of our favorite findings. Click here for the NEA’s full list of takeaways and here to read the full report. Continue reading →

Colorful connections—the power of public art at Levitt concerts

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  • "The Bridge" by Elena Colombo (2011); SteelStacks Arts and Cultural Campus, home to Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks (Bethlehem, PA)

Sounds, colors and people fill a Levitt lawn, infusing a palpable energy into an underused public space. More and more, public art—whether it’s a temporary installation, a permanent mural, or an interactive sculpture, to name a few—is becoming part of the Levitt experience across the country. Below are some of the exciting ways Levitt communities have embraced the multidimensional power of the arts in public spaces. Continue reading →

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Get to know (and help build) your community on Neighborday tomorrow!

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Do you get together with your neighbors on a regular basis? If the answer is no, you’re not alone—according to a 2015 study, only 20 percent of Americans regularly spend time with their neighbors, and a third of the country’s population has never interacted with neighbors. At Levitt, we always encourage people to get to know one another, whether that’s through enjoying free concerts together or through other kinds of community-building activities.

That’s why we love the idea behind Neighborday, a holiday devised seven years ago by media company GOOD to inspire Americans to reach out to folks living next door and plan a communal activity. A block party is one idea, but GOOD offers several other creative ways to forge friendships and build community pride within our neighborhoods. Here are four activities that you and your neighbors can put together just in time for Neighborday on April 29!

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Public art lights up the American Dream City
once again!

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“Kaleidoscope of Dreams” by Canvas by Canvas (2015), created as part of the Star of Texas citywide art exhibition in Arlington, Texas; Levitt Pavilion Arlington/Founders Plaza (Image courtesy of the City of Arlington, TX)

This spring, 20 six-foot fiberglass stars will be brightening up Arlington, Texas, home to Levitt Pavilion Arlington, as part of the Star of Texas public art project. The stars—designed by local artist Chris Cunningham—each feature a different Texan artist’s depiction of the city’s new moniker, “the American Dream City.” Continue reading →

Happy National Arts and Humanities Month!

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Every stroke of the brush, stitch of the needle, or moment of the memoir uniquely marks our society and contributes to our national character.  This month, we recognize the ways the arts and humanities have forever changed our country, and we recommit to ensuring every American has the opportunity and the freedom to question, discover, and create.
— Presidential Proclamation, National Arts and Humanities Month, 2015  

NAMH_logoHappy 30th anniversary to National Arts and Humanities Month!

Since 1985, October has been recognized by Americans for the Arts and the White House as a time to celebrate the importance of cultural experiences in our lives. At Levitt, we believe that the arts are essential to living healthy, happy lives—and that all people should have access to free, live music, regardless of age or background.

Join us this month in celebrating NAHM and check out some of our favorite reasons to support the arts, adapted from this infographic by Americans for the Arts: Continue reading →

Larger-than-life DREAM sculpture unveiled in
Arlington, TX tonight!

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DREAM on display at Burning Man, image courtesy of Bob Pruitt

We’ve all heard the expression, ‘everything is bigger in Texas.’ After getting a sneak peak of the new DREAM sculpture in Arlington, Texas, it looks like dreams are no exception!

The unveiling and dedication for this 54′ long, 12′ tall, metallic LED-lit piece adjacent to Levitt Pavilion Arlington will take place tonight at 7 p.m., in conjunction with the annual South Street Art Festival and a lively performance by folk rocker Luke Wade at Levitt Arlington.  Continue reading →

LA Phil’s VAN Beethoven comes to Levitt L.A. and Levitt Pasadena

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Ready for Beethoven’s Fifth…in virtual reality? 

Today and tomorrow, VAN Beethoven, a free, unprecedented classical music experience comes to Levitt Pasadena and Levitt Los Angeles as a part of the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Immortal Beethoven Festival.

Using virtual reality headsets, “concertgoers” will experience the opening minutes of Beethoven’s famous symphony as if seated in the Walt Disney Concert Hall—without ever leaving the VAN Beethoven truck. Continue reading →

Annual “Tribute in Light” installation returns to NYC tonight

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Photo by Robert Vizzini, Courtesy of The Municipal Arts Society of New York

Today is 9/11, a day which 14 years ago claimed thousands of lives and two iconic towers in New York that will forever be etched in the minds of people across the globe. Six months following the attacks—on March 11, 2002—a public artwork emerged that has served as an international symbol of hope and remembrance ever since: “Tribute in Light.”

Illuminating New York City skies and visible to all those within a 60-mile radius every September 11th since 2002, “Tribute in Light’s” powerful beams of light return tonight, honoring “those who were lost and those who worked so hard to get…[New York City]…through that terrible trial” according to the Municipal Arts Society (MAS)—the presenter of this work for the first 10 years, before the 9/11 Memorial Museum took over the display in 2012. Continue reading →