Category Archives: News

Flor De Toloache to headline 2019 Levitt National Tour

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Mark your calendars—a GRAMMY-winning mariachi experience will soon be coming to a Levitt stage near you! This summer, the all-female, critically acclaimed mariachi group Flor De Toloache will headline the 2019 Levitt National Tour. Levitt audiences across the country will enjoy the band’s energetic, mesmerizing shows that blend traditional mariachi with jazz, salsa and pop music.

Taking place between June and August, the 2019 Levitt National Tour will stop in seven cities including Arlington, Texas; Bethlehem, Pa.; Dayton, Ohio; Denver; Los Angeles; Memphis; and Sioux Falls, S.D. This year’s Tour follows on the heels of the 2018 Levitt National Tour, which featured Southern rocker Paul Thorn and gospel legends Blind Boys of Alabama, and previous Levitt National Tours featuring Gulf Coast soul sensation The Suffers (2017), genre-busting violin outfit Black Violin (2015) and the world-music fusion of Playing For Change (2014).

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Celebrating the lasting legacy of Mimi Levitt

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Annemarie “Mimi” Gratzinger Levitt, an iconic patron of the arts and historic preservation, died of natural causes on January 6, 2019 at her home in New York. She was 97. Known for her intelligence, grace and hands-on approach to philanthropy and activism, Mimi believed in the arts as a source for positive social change and left a lasting legacy of generosity and service to the causes she supported. Continue reading →

Winners Announced for the 2019 Levitt AMP [Your City] Grant Awards

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$25K matching grants will bring free outdoor concerts to 18 small- to mid-sized towns and cities across America

Today, the Mortimer & Mimi Levitt Foundation awarded $450,000 in matching grants to 18 nonprofits serving small- to mid-sized towns and cities across America to produce free outdoor concerts as part of the fifth annual Levitt AMP [Your City] Grant Awards. Reflecting the Levitt Foundation’s commitment to creative placemaking projects generating community support, the Levitt Foundation once again opened the Levitt AMP selection process to the public to choose the top 25 finalists. Continue reading →

Now accepting spring internship applications!

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Calling all driven, creative undergraduate or graduate students who thrive in fast-paced, collaborative, mission-centric environments! With the growing scope of the Levitt Foundation’s work nationwide, we’re thrilled to announce that we’ll now be offering Levitt internship opportunities every spring, summer and fall. Interning with Levitt is a meaningful way to gain relevant hands-on career experience, while making a profound impact in the communities we serve. Continue reading →

Vote Now for Levitt AMP 2019!

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Choose the Top 25 Levitt AMP Finalists!

It’s time to vote! Over 40 proposals have advanced to online voting! Help decide which towns and cities will be one step closer to receiving $25K to present their own Levitt AMP Music Series of 10 or more free concerts in 2019. Vote now through November 20 on the Levitt AMP website, and be sure to spread the word! An individual voter may vote for up to five different proposals, but can only vote for each proposal once.


Important dates to note:

  • Online public voting opened this morning and ends November 20, 2018 at 5 PM PST.
  • After public voting determines the Top 25 finalists, the Levitt Foundation will then begin the selection process and choose 15 winning Levitt AMP grant recipients.
  • Winners will be announced on December 18, 2018.

Congratulations to Middlesboro, Sheboygan and Trenton!

We’re thrilled to announce that previous Levitt AMP winners Middlesboro, KY (Middlesboro Main Street), Sheboygan, WI (John Michael Kohler Arts Center) and Trenton, NJ (Trenton Downtown Association) have each been awarded multi-year funding to present the Levitt AMP Music Series in their towns for the next three years (which is why you won’t see them listed on the voting roster this November)!

During the past four years, each nonprofit has shown tremendous impact in their communities through Levitt AMP, bringing people together of all ages and backgrounds through the power of free live music, while creating a meaningful community gathering space. We’re proud to continue our support of these inspiring communities.

What are you waiting for? Head over to levittamp.org and help get your community AMPlified!

Breaking ground and counting down: Sioux Falls & Dayton!

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Pictured above (left to right): Construction of future Levitt Pavilion Dayton (photo by Andy Snow); Groundbreaking ceremony for Falls Park West and Levitt Shell Sioux Falls on April 23, 2018.

Pictured above (left to right): Levitt Pavilion Dayton’s stage in the making (photo by Andy Snow); Groundbreaking ceremony for Falls Park West and Levitt Shell Sioux Falls on April 23, 2018 (photo by Thomas Dempster)

2018 has been a milestone year for not one, but two, future permanent Levitt venues! In less than three months, Levitt Pavilion Dayton in Ohio will launch its inaugural season of free concerts at its new, state-of-the-art outdoor music venue in downtown’s Dave Have Plaza, reinvigorating this central public space and attracting Daytonians of all walks of life. And last month, Levitt Shell Sioux Falls broke ground on its own state-of-the-art outdoor music venue in the city’s underused Falls Park West, bringing it a giant leap forward toward its projected 2019 opening in South Dakota’s largest and most diverse city.

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Congratulations Liz, recipient of Liberty Hill’s 2018 Founders Award!

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elizabeth-levitt-hirschWe’re thrilled to share that tomorrow night, a pioneering philanthropist whose vision, drive and heart strengthens communities across the nation will be awarded Liberty Hill Foundation’s 2018 Founders Award, Levitt Foundation Board President Liz Levitt Hirsch. She is an engaged changemaker in her city and country who embodies the theme of this year’s Liberty Hill gala, “Justice begins at home.”

The Liberty Hill Foundation has served as an epicenter for social justice in Los Angeles since 1976. Through innovative programming, Liberty Hill empowers Angelenos to come together to make Los Angeles a national model for a peaceful and prosperous future. For more than 40 years, this inspiring foundation has celebrated leaders on the frontlines of change. This year, Liz will be honored alongside the iconic civil rights leader Congressman John Lewis, who’ll be receiving the Upton Sinclair Award for his lifelong commitment to advancing civil rights for all Americans. Continue reading →

Paul Thorn and Blind Boys of Alabama to headline 2018 Levitt National Tour

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Next summer, Southern raconteur Paul Thorn and his six-piece band will team up with five-time GRAMMY-winning Gospel legend, Blind Boys of Alabama, for a one-of-a-kind musical collaboration as headliners of the 2018 Levitt National Tour. Levitt audiences across the country will experience these exhilarating, soulful shows blending old-school gospel with rock, blues and country.

Taking place next June and July, the 2018 Levitt National Tour will stop in seven cities including Arlington, Texas; Bethlehem, Pa.; Dayton, Ohio; Denver; Los Angeles; Memphis; and Sioux Falls, S.D. (the future home of Levitt Shell Sioux Falls). The Tour follows on the heels of the 2017 Levitt National Tour, which featured Gulf Coast Soul sensation The Suffers, and previous Levitt National Tours featuring genre-busting violin outfit Black Violin (2015) and the world-music fusion of Playing For Change (2014).

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Research Recap: Building social capital through communal experiences

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Header-NADOLevitt Foundation Executive Director Sharon Yazowski is currently more than 3,000 miles north of our Los Angeles office, in Anchorage, Alaska—where this morning she delivered a plenary presentation at the annual National Association of Development Organizations Annual Training Conference. Using case studies from across the placemaking sector, including a selection from our own research, her session gave regional planning and economic development professionals from across the country a glimpse into the ways place-based initiatives, especially those involving the arts, can build social capital, strengthening communities in the process.

Screenshot 2017-06-16 14.24.54Inspired by this morning’s presentation, today we’re releasing the third installment of our “Research Recap” blog series, featuring posts that highlight a particular finding from our recently published impact study, and taking a closer look at “social capital.” The term refers to the value that is derived from existing within and being connected to social networks. While the term itself has been around for more than a century—and the practice, even longer—it’s becoming more prevalent in today’s lexicon, as more and more towns and cities recognize the importance of building a stronger and more cohesive community. Continue reading →

Applications now open for the 2018 Levitt AMP [Your City] Grant Awards!

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Calling all small to mid-sized towns and cities across America: show us how you’ll transform an underused public space through the power of free, live music! Now in its fourth year, the Levitt AMP [Your City] Grant Awards is an exciting matching grant opportunity that supports impactful creative placemaking projects around the country.

Up to 15 nonprofits serving small to mid-sized towns and cities will receive $25K each in matching funds to produce their own Levitt AMP [Your City] Music Series—an outdoor, free concert series featuring a diverse lineup of high caliber entertainment. And just like in previous years, the public will decide the Top 25 finalists through an online voting process taking place this November. So get ready to rally your family, friends, colleagues and neighbors to vote and bring free, live music to your community!

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