About

Mortimer & Mimi Levitt

The Mortimer & Mimi Levitt Foundation is a private family foundation founded in 1966 by Mortimer and Mimi Levitt to support the arts, culture and education. Today, 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 destinations where the power of free, live music brings people together to create equitable, healthy and thriving communities.

 

Having made his fortune through the fashion menswear company he founded, The Custom Shop, Mortimer was an outspoken advocate for the arts and dedicated philanthropist. The Levitt family was the primary benefactor of the original Levitt Pavilion in Westport, Conn., which opened in 1974 and transformed the town dump into a community gathering space for free outdoor concerts.

In 1999, the continuing success of the Levitt Pavilion in Westport inspired Mortimer to lay the groundwork for a national network of Levitt venues, so communities across the country could come together through the shared experience of free concerts under the stars. When Mortimer was 90, he sold his company (which included 70 Custom Shop retail branches nationwide) and transferred the proceeds to the Mortimer Levitt Foundation for the purpose of helping communities across America establish their own Levitt venues. He later passed on the reigns of the Foundation to his daughter, Liz Levitt Hirsch, to oversee its venture philanthropy program.

Mortimer passed in 2005 at the age of 98. In 2012, the Foundation was renamed the Mortimer & Mimi Levitt Foundation in honor of Mimi’s contributions to philanthropy and advancing the Levitt mission. Mimi passed in 2019 at the age of 97. For over a decade, Liz served as the Levitt Foundation Board President until her passing in 2024. Mortimer and Mimi’s son and Liz’s brother, Peter Levitt, is a long-time board member and is currently serving as board co-chair.

Over the past two decades, Levitt’s venture philanthropy model has expanded to become a national network of Levitt venues and Levitt AMP concert sites, each creating positive social impact and vibrancy in their communities. Mortimer’s long held belief that all people, regardless of their socioeconomic circumstance, should have access to the joy of free, outdoor music continues to inspire the work of the Foundation.

Both Levitt venues and the Levitt AMP [Your City] Grant Awards are community-driven and focus on transforming underused public spaces into thriving, inclusive community destinations where all feel welcome. Since 2003, grants totaling more than $20 million from the Levitt Foundation have supported Levitt venues and Levitt AMP concert sites across the country. To date, the Levitt Foundation has supported the development of nonprofit Levitt venues in nine cities, with four additional venues in development, and has provided funding to nonprofits presenting the Levitt AMP Music Series in over 50 small to mid-sized towns and cities.

The work of the Levitt Foundation also includes research, sharing Levitt’s impact and learnings with the field and at cross-sector convenings, and ongoing conversations with civic leaders and communities nationwide on the role of creative placemaking and arts investments to elevate overall well-being and create positive social and economic impact.

As the Levitt program evolves, the fundamentals remain based on Westport’s organic beginnings. Both Levitt Pavilion venues and the Levitt AMP [Your City] Grant Awards are community-driven and focus on transforming neglected public spaces into thriving community destinations where all feel welcome.

Since 2003, grants from the Levitt Foundation have brought Levitt Pavilion venues to seven cities. In its first year in 2015, the Levitt AMP [Your City] Music Series took place in 10 towns and cities, coast to coast. To date, the Levitt Foundation has awarded more than $3 million total to more than 50 communities across America through the Levitt AMP grant program, including the 33 communities that will present the 2023-2025 Levitt AMP Music Series.

On November 30, 2023, we announced the Levitt Foundation will spend down our assets by 2041—significantly increasing the Foundation’s ability to support free outdoor concerts and vibrant music ecosystems in more communities across America. The Foundation has become part of a growing movement in philanthropy to spend down assets at an accelerated rate, realizing that resources are most impactful when used to support the needs of communities today. By expanding our giving over the next two decades, the Levitt Foundation will help center free, live music in public spaces as a key driver for positive change, building social capital and economic vitality in communities.

 

 

 

Levitt Foundation

Timeline

With the success of The Custom Shop, New York-based Mortimer and Mimi Levitt begin spending their summers in Westport, Connecticut. In the coming years, their family grows and so does their embrace of philanthropy, leading to their support of a community-driven project in Westport that sets the stage for a big idea.

1966
September 2 1966

1966 | Levitt Foundation is founded

1966 | Levitt Foundation is founded

The Levitt Foundation is created by philanthropists Mortimer and Mimi Levitt to formalize their support for the arts, culture and education.

1974
September 2 1974

1974 | Original Levitt Pavilion opens

Residents of Westport, Connecticut, transform the site of the town dump into a new community gathering space to enjoy free outdoor concerts, named the Levitt Pavilion in honor of Mortimer and Mimi’s support of the project.

1999
September 2 1999

1999 | The Custom Shop proceeds transferred to Foundation

1999 | The Custom Shop proceeds transferred to Foundation

The continuing success of the Levitt Pavilion in Westport, which evolved to present 50 free concerts each summer, inspires Mortimer to sell his company and transfer the proceeds into the Foundation, laying the groundwork for a national network of outdoor Levitt music venues.

Birth of the Levitt Network

The success of the Levitt Pavilion in Westport inspires an effort to bring free music under the stars to communities across the country.

2002
September 2 2002

2002 | Launching a venture philanthropy model

Mortimer launches the Foundation’s venture philanthropy model of public-private partnerships with his daughter, Liz Levitt Hirsch, leading the charge to bring the power of free, live music to communities coast to coast.

2003
September 2 2003

2003 | Levitt Pavilion Pasadena opens

As the first venture philanthropy project of the Levitt Foundation, Levitt Pavilion Pasadena brings vitality back to Memorial Park, which for years prior was largely abandoned and a magnet for crime, through high-caliber music programming.

2005
September 2 2005

2005 | Mortimer Levitt passes

2005 | Mortimer Levitt passes

At the age of 98, Mortimer Levitt passes away at his home in Westport, Connecticut.

2007
September 2 2007

2007 | Levitt Pavilion Los Angeles opens

Building upon the neighborhood’s diverse cultural assets, Levitt Pavilion Los Angeles sparks the transformation of the city’s historic MacArthur Park from a place notorious for criminal activity into a safe and welcoming destination for the community to come together.

2008
September 2 2008

2008 | Levitt Shell Memphis opens

Levitt Shell Memphis revitalizes the iconic yet dilapidated WPA-era Overton Park Band Shell where Elvis Presley made his professional debut into a restored destination for the community to once again enjoy music under the stars.

September 3 2008

2008 | Levitt Pavilion Arlington opens

Built from the ground up across from City Hall, Levitt Pavilion Arlington quickly becomes the “crown jewel” of the city’s downtown revitalization efforts, attracting audiences from throughout the metro and sparking the creation of a new cultural district.

Expanding Levitt’s Impact

Inspired by the social and economic impact of Levitt venues, the Foundation enters a chapter of growth, professionalization, and deepened dedication to creating dynamic public spaces and stronger, more connected communities through free, live music.

2008
September 6 2008

2008 | Levitt Foundation hires executive director

The Levitt Foundation hires its first full-time employee, Sharon Yazowski, who is charged with professionalizing the organization, building its structure, and guiding the strategic growth of Levitt programs nationwide as its founding executive director.

2011
September 2 2011

2011 | Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks opens

Located at the base of the awe-inspiring Bethlehem Steel blast furnaces in what was once one of the nation’s largest brownfields, Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks celebrates the rebirth of this Rust Belt town as a music and cultural destination.

2014
September 2 2014

2014 | Inaugural Levitt National Tour

2014 | Inaugural Levitt National Tour

The Levitt Foundation and the national network of outdoor Levitt music venues collaborate on their first collective programming initiative, with acclaimed international music group Playing For Change headlining the first Levitt National Tour.

2015
September 2 2015

2015 | Levitt AMP [Your City] Grant Awards launches

2015 | Levitt AMP [Your City] Grant Awards launches

Geared to nonprofits serving small to mid-sized towns and cities, the annual Levitt AMP [Your City] Grant Awards launches, awarding $25K matching grants to present 10 free concerts, transforming underused public spaces into vibrant community-wide destinations.

2016
September 2 2016

2016 | Levitt Foundation releases first white paper

2016 | Levitt Foundation releases first white paper

The Levitt Foundation releases “Setting the Stage for Community Change: Reflecting on Creative Placemaking Outcomes,” a multi-year, mixed method research study examining arts-based strategies for social impact based on case studies of Levitt venues.

2017
September 2 2017

2017 | Levitt Pavilion Denver opens

Envisioned through a community planning process for Ruby Hill Park, a previously underused, expansive park in Southwest Denver that offers breathtaking views of the city, Levitt Pavilion Denver soon becomes a popular music destination.

2018
September 2 2018

2018 | Levitt Pavilion Dayton opens

Building on Dayton’s rich history of innovation and commitment to inclusivity, Levitt Pavilion Dayton is a hub of community activity while serving as the cultural centerpiece to the “Gem City’s” downtown redevelopment strategy.

2019
September 2 2019

2019 | Mimi Levitt passes

2019 | Mimi Levitt passes

At the age of 97, iconic patron of the arts and historic preservation, Annemarie “Mimi” Gratzinger Levitt, passes away at her home in New York.

September 6 2019

2019 | Levitt Shell Sioux Falls opens

Known locally as “Levitt at the Falls” Levitt Shell Sioux Falls transforms an underused portion of the city’s namesake park, Falls Park West, into a welcoming destination that celebrates the community’s growing diversity and inclusive spirit.

2021
September 2 2021

2021 | Levitt Foundation releases pre/post intervention white paper

2021 | Levitt Foundation releases pre/post intervention white paper

Continuing our partnership with Slover Linett Audience Research, the Levitt Foundation co-releases “Listening to the Music of Community Change,” the third part of a community impact study building upon research first published in 2016. The white paper explores changing community perceptions prior to and following the opening of Levitt Pavilion..Read More

2023
October 30 2023

2022 | Levitt AMP program evolution

2022 | Levitt AMP program evolution

Building upon the meaningful impact of Levitt AMP in communities, the Levitt Foundation transitions the annual matching grant program into a multi-year, $90K program over three years. In 2022, the Foundation awards a total of $3 million to an additional 15 communities, bringing the total number of AMP communities to..Read More

November 29 2023

2023 | Public Announcement of Spend Down

2023 | Public Announcement of Spend Down

The Levitt Foundation announces it will spend down $150 million in assets by 2041—significantly increasing our ability to support free outdoor concerts and vibrant music ecosystems in more communities across America. With this commitment, the Foundation becomes part of a growing movement in philanthropy to give at an accelerated rate,..Spend Down