The Levitt Foundation supports festivals, conferences, and field-building events to expand access and nurture an equitable arts and music ecosystem.
As part of our commitment to building more equitable, healthy, and thriving communities, the Levitt Foundation partners with organizations that amplify the diverse voices of artists, cultural bearers, placemakers, industry professionals, and community groups through values-aligned work. We support events, programs, and initiatives that foster cross-sector collaborations, advance shared learning, and broaden opportunities for participation at the intersection of arts and social impact. Have a project you’d like to share with us? Reach out to inquiry@levitt.org.
Creative Placemaking Communities
Creative Placemaking Communities is a national organization that helps places become more sustainable, prosperous, equitable, healthy, and resilient by supporting people who believe in the power of local arts and culture to shape communities. Since 2018, the Levitt Foundation has supported CPC’s Leadership Summits, held online and in-person around the United States, which are designed to share best practices to advance the field of creative placemaking and spark collaborations, projects, programs, and policies for practitioners and leaders in community economic development, urban planning, cultural heritage, land use, and philanthropy.
Folk Alliance International
For over a decade the Levitt Foundation has supported Folk Alliance International, the largest annual gathering of the Folk artist community from around the world that spans a wide range of genres, from Appalachian, Americana, Blues and Celtic to Global Roots, Hip-Hop, Spoken Word, Zydeco, and more. Levitt Foundation grantees and partners regularly attend the conference to discover talent and book artists for their upcoming concert series. The Levitt Foundation is also a sponsor of the Folk Alliance International Clearwater Award, which recognizes environmental stewardship in the field of festival production.
Imagining America
Imagining America brings together scholars, artists, designers, humanists, and organizers to imagine, study, and enact a more just and liberatory America and world. Working across institutional, disciplinary, and community divides, IA strengthens and promotes public scholarship, cultural organizing, and systems change that inspires collective imagination, knowledge-making, and civic action on pressing public issues. The Levitt Foundation is supporting IA’s 2023 National Gathering, “Radical Reckoning: Invoking the Elements for Collective Change,” a three-day immersive experience taking place in Providence, Rhode Island.
Music Cities Annual Convention
Music Cities Events organizes the biggest international conferences on the topic of music ecosystems, music policy, and music tourism. The advocacy group aims to educate on the value and impact of music to elevate communities. Showcasing the best uses of music by individuals, organizations, and cities all over the world, this annual convention provides a stage for thought leaders spanning city planning, music, economic development, tourism, academia, events, real estate, and nonprofits. As a sponsor for the 2023 Music Cities Convention in Huntsville, Alabama—as well as presenting the Music Cities Award for the Best Initiative to Support Diversity & Inclusion in Music—the Levitt Foundation joins a cross-sector community bringing together ideas to create better cities through music.
AMERI’KANA
AMERI’KANA is an annual music festival taking place in Kansas City, Missouri each fall, a collaborative project between the GRAMMY®-nominated band Making Movies and their nonprofit, Art As Mentorship, which explores the deeply-rooted BIPOC influence on American music, past and present. By showcasing and celebrating the diversity within American music, this festival spotlights the contributions BIPOC communities have made to our communal story, with a focus on healing the inequities and racial divisions in our country. The Levitt Foundation has supported this free, all-ages celebration of community since 2022.
Inclusion Festival
Inclusion Festival is an accessible music and wellness festival that takes place each summer in Pennsylvania. Designed to accommodate all ages and abilities, Inclusion Festival features sensory-friendly and empowering live music, immersive experiences, and a series of educational and recreational workshops. As an official free ticket sponsor and event partner, the Levitt Foundation has supported this annual festival since 2022, which was created by Accessible Festivals, a nonprofit organization dedicated to making communities stronger by ensuring music and recreation is accessible to all abilities.
Photo credit: Edwina Hay
Juneteenth UNITYFEST
Founded in 2021, Juneteenth UNITYFEST is an annual event presented by the Robert Randolph Foundation, a nonprofit organization that strives to bring together diverse voices in commemoration and celebration of Juneteenth and Black culture, both significant contributors to the vibrancy of American history and culture. Broadcast live around the world from Brooklyn, UNITYFEST 2023 included multiple entertainment, arts education, and community activism events, including the Juneteenth UNITYFEST Concert, which took place at BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! at the Lena Horne Bandshell in Prospect Park. The Levitt Foundation has supported Juneteenth UNITYFEST since its inception, joining a coalition of organizations dedicated to uplifting Black voices and culture.