Delta State University’s Foundation, Delta State University, the city of Cleveland, Delta Arts Alliance and the Cleveland-Bolivar County Chamber of Commerce recently gathered to officially acknowledge the Levitt AMP Grant award. Those in attendance were: (sitting, l to r) Farae Wolfe, Robin Boyles, (standing, l to r) Jeffrey Farris, Gary Bouse, Hilda Povall, Lisa Cooley, Rori Herbison, Tricia Walker and Keith Fulcher.Delta State University’s Foundation, Delta State University, the city of Cleveland, Delta Arts Alliance and the Cleveland-Bolivar County Chamber of Commerce recently gathered to officially acknowledge the Levitt AMP Grant award, which was selected by a public vote in November of 2014.
The grant provides a $25,000 matching fund to provide a free outdoor concert series featuring a diverse lineup of professional musicians. In conjunction with the Delta State Foundation, the city of Cleveland provided a letter of support for the project, and Delta State’s Delta Music Institute will take lead on the unique opportunity.
“We are grateful to Levitt Pavilions for selecting Cleveland to be one of the 10 small cities to hold a Levitt AMP Music Series,” said Robin Boyles, director of the Office of Institutional Grants at Delta State. “While being led by Delta State’s Delta Music Institute, the Levitt AMP Cleveland Music Series will be a collaborative effort with the city of Cleveland, the Cleveland-Bolivar County Chamber of Commerce and the Delta Arts Alliance, and there will be opportunities for other groups and businesses to participate.
“Because it is a $25,000 matching grant, there are partnership opportunities for sponsorships which will go towards the required match. We are already busy planning the 10-week concert series, set to begin in late August and continue through October.”
Thanks to online public voting, Cleveland became one of the 10 winning cities. Levitt Pavilions aims to serve small to mid-sized towns and cities up to 400,000 people through the program. Ten nonprofits, or municipalities partnering with a nonprofit, will receive the matching funds to produce their own Levitt AMP Music Series.
Lisa Cooley, Team Cleveland Main Street manager for the Cleveland-Bolivar County Chamber of Commerce, said the grant will be huge for Cleveland, especially the downtown area.
“Events that bring people to our community can provide a huge economic impact for Cleveland,” said Cooley. “These concerts will not only allow us to bring visitors to the area, but they also help improve upon the quality of place for our residents by providing more artistic programming opportunities.”
The concert series will reflect three goals defined by Levitt Pavilions — to 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.
The Levitt AMP Cleveland Music Series is supported in part by Levitt Pavilions, the national nonprofit behind the largest free outdoor concert series in America. Dedicated to strengthening the social fabric of our communities, Levitt partners with cities to transform neglected public spaces into thriving destinations through the power of free, live music. In 2015, free Levitt concerts will take place in 16 cities across 14 states, all featuring a rich array of music genres and high caliber talent. In addition to Levitt AMP, Levitt forms the only national network of nonprofit outdoor music venues, each presenting 50+ free concerts every year. Within this region is the Levitt Shell (www.levitshell.org) in Memphis, Tenn. with concerts taking place this May, June, July, September and October. Learn more about locations and impact: www.levittpavilions.org.
