Berea Wins Grant for the Fourth Year in a Row to Present the Levitt AMP Berea Music Series

$25K in matching funds will once again bring free outdoor concerts to Old Town Artisan Village

December 20, 2019 —Today, the Mortimer & Mimi Levitt Foundation named Berea, Kentucky as one of 20 small to mid-sized towns and cities across America to win a Levitt AMP Grant Award of $25K in matching funds to present a free concert series at Old Town Artisan Village. Berea Arts Council submitted Berea’s Levitt AMP proposal. 

In July, the Levitt Foundation invited nonprofits to submit proposals that would reflect the three goals of the Levitt AMP awards: Amplify community pride and the city’s unique character; enrich lives through the power of free, live Music; and illustrate the importance of vibrant public Places. Nonprofits that received a previous Levitt AMP grant were eligible to reapply. In an effort to inspire and engage communities across the country around the power of creative placemaking, the Levitt Foundation opened the selection process to the public to choose the top 25 finalists.
The public voted on the submitted proposals over a three-week period in November, selecting their favorite projects online at http://levittamp.org. 

"We are thrilled to announce the 2020 Levitt AMP Grant Awards winners, and express our appreciation to everyone who voted online to choose the finalists,” says Sharon Yazowski, Executive Director of the Levitt Foundation. "As a fourth-year grant recipient, it will be exciting to see how the Berea Arts Council continues to inspire economic vibrancy in its Old Town Artisan Village through multi-layered arts experiences, bringing people together from all walks of life for the Levitt AMP Berea Music Series.”

The 2020 Levitt AMP winners include 5 new and 15 returning grantees from a broad range of communities: rural towns with populations of less than 5,000 like Shenandoah Junction, W.Va.; Houston, Miss.; and Soldotna, Alaska; mid-sized cities like Carson City, Nev.; Stevens Point, Wis.; and Woonsocket, R.I.; and larger cities with populations of 80,000 to 115,000 like Merced, Calif.; Fort Smith, Ark.; and Springfield, Ill. Each winner will present 10 free concerts featuring a diverse lineup of high-caliber entertainment as part of the Levitt AMP Music Series, for a total of 200 free Levitt AMP concerts across the U.S. in 2020. 

Berea, Kentucky* (population: 15,787)
The Berea Arts Council will present the fourth Levitt AMP Berea Music Series, celebrating the city’s social justice heritage and energizing its historic Old Town Artisan Village with an eclectic array of musical experiences from across the globe. The 2020 series will continue to fuel Old Town’s economic recovery and transformation into a welcoming hub for art, food and community gatherings.

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About the Mortimer & Mimi Levitt Foundation
The Mortimer & Mimi Levitt Foundation is a private foundation that exists to strengthen the social fabric of America. Through its support of creative placemaking, the Levitt Foundation empowers communities to transform underused public spaces into welcoming destinations where the power of free, live music brings people together and invigorates community life. The Foundation's primary funding areas include permanent Levitt venues and the Levitt AMP [Your City] Grant Awards, an annual grants competition. During the past decade, the Foundation has awarded more than $20 million in grants to support access to free, high-caliber live music experiences while bringing new life to public spaces.

The Levitt network of permanent outdoor music venues and AMP concert sites collectively serves more than 750,000 people annually through 600+ free, family-friendly concerts in 28 towns and cities. As an example of the high-caliber talent presented across the Levitt network, the 2020 GRAMMY nominees include 17 artists who have performed on Levitt stages in recent years. Learn more at http://levitt.org