Schedule
Click the day of the week to view the agenda and session descriptions for that day.
All Friday and Saturday sessions will take place in the Hotel Indigo on the third and fourth floors. See schedule below for each session room location.
Thu
Fri
Sat
Thursday, January 23, 2025
1:30 pm
Pre-Convening Museum Tours
Miracle Mile Neighborhood
Join your fellow Convening attendees for a cultural walking tour and experience the rich tapestry of neighborhoods that make up Los Angeles—one of the most diverse and multicultural cities in the world.
6:00 pm
Newcomers Reception
Omni Los Angeles Hotel
Are you a first-time attendee to the Levitt National Convening? Come to this reception in The Metropolitan on Hotel Indigo’s third floor welcoming newcomers to help break the ice, meet other first-timers and the Levitt Foundation team, plan for navigating the Convening schedule, and begin building relationships with your Levitt peers.
6:30 pm
Affinity Group Receptions
Omni Los Angeles Hotel
Join your Levitt AMP and Levitt VIBE peers at 18 Social on the top floor of Hotel Indigo, where you’ll enjoy libations, light appetizers, and stunning views of LA’s iconic skyline while making new connections with your Levitt peers from across the country and reconnecting with old friends. Following this reception, head downstairs to The Metropolitan, located on the hotel’s third floor, for the network-wide Welcome Reception featuring a delicious dinner, handcrafted cocktails, and the spirited beats of DJ Ari-4Rari!
7:30 pm
Convening Welcome Reception
NOÉ Restaurant
Following your affinity group gatherings, join us in The Metropolitan on Hotel Indigo’s third floor, for a network-wide reception bringing all Convening attendees together. Find yourself immersed in the glamour of old Hollywood while you enjoy a dinner of delicious cuisine, handcrafted cocktails, and the spirited beats of DJ Ari-4Rari!
Friday, January 24, 2025
8:00 am
Breakfast
Sound Bath (Optional)
Join Luna for a relaxing sonic meditation experience incorporating sound bowls for an easeful and empowering sound bath. Sound healing is a form of alchemy or transformation that calms brain waves in safe and gentle ways, supporting peace, relaxation, and connection to pause and take in the beauty of sound. Taking place before breakfast and during lunch each day.
8:45 am
Welcome
9:00 am
Levitt Family Legacy Film Screening
9:15 am
State of Levitt
In this era of reimagination, free Levitt concerts have sparked new possibilities for communities across the country, fueling a movement for free live music in public spaces as essential to community life. Building upon arts access, free concerts have the potential to foster social cohesion, advance shared priorities, and contribute to ecosystem-level change. With the first phase of the Levitt Foundation’s spend down underway, inspired by the transformational impact of Levitt programs in communities, Sharon will share how the Foundation is expanding programs and resources and strengthening the field of creative placemaking through centering joy and belonging for people of all ages and backgrounds for a more equitable, healthy, and thriving future for all.
10:00 am
Plenary
Belonging is a fundamental human need. But what does it mean to belong? This plenary and fireside chat will explore the art and science of building belonging in public spaces. We will discuss the ways communities across the country are harnessing the power of connection and expanding understanding of who belongs. We will also consider what belonging and the arts offer to each other, and embrace the role that each of us can play in cultivating a culture of belonging in the places we call home.
11:00 am
Break
11:15 am
Concurrent Breakout Sessions
12:15 pm
LUNCH
1:30 pm
Ignite Presentations
2:00 pm
BREAK
2:15 pm
Concurrent Facilitated Workshops
4:15 pm
BREAK
4:30 pm
Performance + Conversation | Sara Churruchich
Kyshona is an artist ignited by untold stories, and by the capacity of those stories to thread connection in every community. With her background as a licensed music therapist, she brings the curiosity of a writer, the resolve of an activist, and the voice of a singer. Kyshona is unrelenting in her pursuit for the healing power of song. She blends roots, rock, R&B, and folk with lyrical prowess and influence.
5:00 pm
Adjourn
6:30 pm
Group Dine-Arounds
Various Locations
Join your Levitt peers for a Los Angeles culinary experience. Groups of 10-20 will dine at each restaurant with cuisines reflecting the global diversity of LA—from Mexican, Korean, and Peruvian to Chinese, Italian, and standard American fare—among other delicious options.
Saturday, January 25, 2025
8:00 am
Breakfast
Sound Bath (Optional)
Join Luna for a relaxing sonic meditation experience incorporating sound bowls for an easeful and empowering sound bath. Sound healing is a form of alchemy or transformation that calms brain waves in safe and gentle ways, supporting peace, relaxation, and connection to pause and take in the beauty of sound. Taking place before breakfast and during lunch each day.
9:00 am
Main Stage Session
Get ready to be energized in joyful harmony with your Levitt peers in this opening activity led by Kira Willey of Choir & Company.
10:00 am
BREAK
10:30 am
Affinity Peer Group Breakouts
Community thrives when collective strength, comprised of individual voices, addresses issues to elevate the common good. While there are many crises in our national politics and culture today, the solutions ultimately will come from people rooted in place and woven together in relationship. In this powerful keynote, Liu will share insights and strategies from his acclaimed work on the power of participation to positively change civic culture from the ground up, while also speaking to the arts in the public sphere as a dynamic vehicle for identifying and designing solutions.
12:30 pm
Affinity Peer Group Lunch
1:45 pm
Affinity Peer Group Breakouts
3:45 pm
Break
4:15 pm
Performance + Conversation | Küf Knotz & Christine Elise
Larry & Joe are versatile multi-instrumentalists and singer-songwriters on a mission to show that music has no borders. As a duo they perform a fusion of Venezuelan and Appalachian folk music on harp, banjo, cuatro, fiddle, maracas, guitar, and upright bass, inspiring joy and unity. The program they offer, en ingles y español, features a distinct blend of their musical inheritances and traditions.
4:45 pm
Closing
6:00 pm
Celebration Dinner
The Music Center | Dorothy Chandler Pavilion