Levitt Foundation Announces Recipients of Multi-year, $90K Matching Grants to Support Free Concerts in 33 Small to Mid-Sized Towns and Cities

Levitt AMP grants harness the power of music as a catalyst for social impact, providing matching funds over three years to activate underused public spaces and build community through free outdoor concerts

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Mortimer & Mimi Levitt Foundation, a social impact funder supporting nonprofits nationwide at the intersection of music, public space, and community building, announces the largest number of grant recipients in its history, providing 33 communities with a multi-year $90K Levitt AMP [Your City] Grant Award. In total, the Levitt Foundation will award $3 million dollars over three years, supporting 18 returning and 15 new grantees to bring the Levitt AMP Music Series to their communities in 2023, 2024, and 2025. The Levitt AMP Grant Awards are specifically designed to support nonprofits serving small to mid-sized towns and cities, with each grantee annually presenting 10 free outdoor concerts featuring a diverse lineup of artists, music genres, and cultural programming. Levitt AMP Music Series inject new life into underused public spaces, creating joyous, inclusive community destinations where people of all ages and backgrounds come together.

From rural Alaska to Appalachian Main Streets and Midwestern locales, the Levitt AMP Music Series is a catalytic, matching grant opportunity engaging a wide range of towns and cities across America to realize a shared mission—building community through music to create a more equitable, healthy, and thriving future for all. In addition to financial support, the Levitt Foundation provides grant recipients with valuable resources including best practices, program frameworks, toolkits, and trainings to deepen impact in their communities. For this new grant cycle, the Levitt AMP program was expanded from an annual matching grant of $25K into a three-year matching grant of $30K per year, for a total grant award of $90K per recipient. Each of the 2023–2025 recipients represent the three goals of the Levitt AMP Grant Awards: Amplify community pride and a city's unique character; enrich lives through the power of free, live Music; and illustrate the importance of inclusive and vibrant public Places.

"The Levitt Foundation envisions an America filled with thriving public spaces, where the power of free, live music brings friends, families, and neighbors of all backgrounds together for a shared community experience. In addition to extending the grant to three years, we are thrilled to expand the number of Levitt AMP grantees, our largest yet, whose compelling proposals, community support, and nonprofit work align with our cores values to support programs that are inclusive, dynamic, and create connectedness and joy," says Sharon Yazowski, Executive Director of the Levitt Foundation.

The 2023–2025 Levitt AMP grant recipients include communities that have been historically excluded and/or underrepresented and reflect a microcosm of the nation, ranging from small towns with populations of less than 1,000 like Littleton, North Carolina, to medium-sized cities like Fort Pierce, Florida. Below is the full list of Levitt AMP [Your City] Grant Awards recipients (in alphabetical order):

Batesville, Arkansas (population: 11,166)
Main Street Batesville will present the first Levitt AMP Batesville Music Series in Riverside Park.

Baton Rouge, Louisiana (population: 222,185)
Scotland Saturdays will present the first Levitt AMP Baton Rouge Music Series in Scotlandville Plaza.

Berea, Kentucky (population: 15,773)*
First Friday Berea has presented the Levitt AMP Berea Music Series in City Park Expansion since 2017.

Carson City, Nevada (population: 55,244)*
Brewery Arts Center has presented the Levitt AMP Carson City Music Series since 2016.

Clinton, Oklahoma (population: 8,380)
Scissortail Productions will present its first Levitt AMP Clinton Music Series at the historic WPA-era bandshell in McClain-Rogers Park.

Colusa, California (population: 6,428)
Colusa County Arts Council will present the first Levitt AMP Colusa Music Series in Veterans Memorial Park.

Cumberland, Maryland (population: 18,736)
Allegany Arts Council will present its first Levitt AMP Cumberland Music Series on the Festival Grounds at Canal Place.

Earlham, Iowa (population: 1,382)*
Chicks with Checks has presented the Levitt AMP Earlham Music Series in Earlham City Park since 2019.

Flint, Michigan (population: 80,628)
Jazz on Wheels will present the first Levitt AMP Flint Music Series on the lawn outside Totem Books.

Fort Pierce, Florida (population: 47,927)
St. Lucie Cultural Alliance will present the inaugural Levitt AMP Fort Pierce Music Series in Museum Pointe Park.

Fort Smith, Arkansas (population: 87,788)*
64.6 Downtown has presented the Levitt AMP Fort Smith Music Series in Riverfront Park since 2021.

Gallup, New Mexico (population: 21,637)*
Gallup MainStreet Arts & Cultural District has presented the Levitt AMP Gallup Music Series in McKinley County Courthouse Square since 2021.

Galva, Illinois (population: 2,539)*
Galva Arts Council has presented the Levitt AMP Galva Music Series in Wiley Park since 2018.

Green Bay, Wisconsin (population: 107,015)
On Broadway, Inc. will present the Levitt AMP Green Bay Music Series in Leicht Memorial Park.

Hana, Hawaii (population: 1,584)
Hana Arts will present the first Levitt AMP Hana Music Series near Hana Ranch Restaurant.

Harrisonburg, Virginia (population: 51,430)
Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance will present the first Levitt AMP Harrisonburg Music Series at Turner Pavilion.

Littleton, North Carolina (population: 560)
Lakeland Cultural Arts Center will present the inaugural Levitt AMP Littleton Music Series at the Lakeland Amphitheater.

Middlesboro, Kentucky (population: 9,242)*
Middlesboro Main Street has presented the Levitt AMP Middlesboro Music Series since 2015.

Ocala, Florida (population: 60,021)*
Marion Cultural Alliance has presented the Levitt AMP Ocala Music Series at the historic Webb Field since 2017.

Selma, Alabama (population: 17,625)
Black Belt Community Foundation will present the first Levitt AMP Selma Music Series in the city's Riverfront Park and Amphitheater.

Sheboygan, Wisconsin (population: 48,153)*
John Michael Kohler Arts Center has presented the Levitt AMP Sheboygan Music Series at City Green since 2015.

Shenandoah Junction, West Virginia (population: 621)*
Jefferson County Parks and Recreation has presented the Levitt AMP Shenandoah Junction Music Series in Sam Michael's Park since 2021.

Soldotna, Alaska (population: 4,705)*
Vision Soldotna has presented the Levitt AMP Soldotna Music Series in Soldotna Creek Park since 2019.

Springfield, Illinois (population: 167,601)*
Downtown Springfield Heritage Foundation has presented the Levitt AMP Springfield Music Series in the "Y-block" since 2019.

St. Johnsbury, Vermont (population: 5,815)*
Catamount Arts has presented the Levitt AMP St. Johnsbury Music Series at Dog Mountain since 2017.

Stevens Point, Wisconsin (population: 26,144)*
CREATE Portage County has presented the Levitt AMP Stevens Point Music Series in Pfiffner Pioneer Park since 2017.

Trenton, New Jersey (population: 83,387)*
Trenton Downtown Association has presented the Levitt AMP Trenton Music Series in Mill Hill Park since 2015.

Utica, New York (population: 59,984)*
Utica Monday Nite has presented the Levitt AMP Utica Music Series in Kopernik Park since 2016.

Valdosta, Georgia (population: 55,567)
The Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts will present the first Levitt AMP Valdosta Music Series at Turner Center Art Park.

Waco, Texas (population: 139,594)
Creative Waco will present the inaugural Levitt AMP Waco Music Series in Bridge Street Plaza.

Whitesburg, Kentucky (population: 2,215)*
Cowan Community Center has presented the Levitt AMP Whitesburg Music Series since 2017.

Wilmington, Delaware (population: 70,750)
Cityfest will present the inaugural Levitt AMP Wilmington Music Series at The Urban Artist Exchange Amphitheater.

Woonsocket, Rhode Island (population: 41,616)*
NeighborWorks Blackstone River Valley has presented the Levitt AMP Woonsocket Music Series in River Island Art Park since 2018.

*Returning Levitt AMP grantee

The Mortimer & Mimi Levitt Foundation is a private family foundation that exists to strengthen the social fabric of America. Through its commitment to creative placemaking, the Levitt Foundation supports the activation of underused public spaces—such as neglected parks, vacant downtown lots, and former brownfields—into welcoming, inclusive destinations where the power of free, live music brings people together to create more equitable, healthy, and thriving communities. The Foundation's primary funding areas include Levitt venues and the Levitt AMP [Your City] Grant Awards. Both of these programs present free concerts in outdoor, open lawn settings featuring high-caliber talent in a broad array of music genres and cultural programming. Levitt venues and Levitt AMP concert sites attract people of all ages and backgrounds and reflect the character of their town or city, while benefitting from the framework and best practices of the Levitt program.

The Levitt Foundation invests in community-driven efforts that harness the power of partnerships and leverage community engagement. Levitt venue nonprofits and AMP grantees partner with other local nonprofits and community groups to inform programming, outreach, and engagement, embodying the Foundation's funding philosophy and core values to support projects that are inclusive, catalytic, and dynamic, and create connectedness and joy. Reflecting its ongoing commitment to self-reflection and contributing to the creative placemaking field, the Levitt Foundation invests in research to evaluate the social impact of Levitt programs in communities, which in turn informs the Foundation's evolving philanthropic practice. Learn more: levitt.org and follow us @levittfoundation on Facebook and Instagram and @levittfdn on Twitter.

SOURCE Levitt Foundation