Main Street Batesville is now in the running to bring a free outdoor music series to Batesville starting in 2023.
Main St. Batesville, alongside the City of Batesville, hopes to qualify as one of the Top 20 finalists in the public voting phase of the Levitt AMP Grant Awards which are supported by the Mortimer & Mimi Levitt Foundation.
According to a release regarding MSB’s participation, the Levitt AMP Grant Awards are “…an exciting, multi-year matching grant opportunity created by the Levitt Foundation to serve small to mid-sized towns and cities with populations up to 250,000. Nonprofits will receive a total matching grant of $90,000 over three years (2023, 2024, and 2025 at $30,000 per year) to produce their own Levitt AMP Music Series — a free outdoor concert series featuring a diverse lineup of professional musicians that reimagines an underused public space to create an inclusive destination for people of all ages and backgrounds.”
MSB submitted the proposal for the City of Batesville to present the free music series at Riverside Park.
“We are beyond excited to bring this possibility to our town,” said MSB Executive Director Maggie Tipton-Smart. “With funds like this, we can really broaden the work that we do — engaging communities. It’s not just music for us, it’s a sense of pride, a feeling of community, and a love for people. Let’s show Levitt what it looks like to be small town proud.”
Batesville’s proposal is posted on the Levitt Foundation website where the public can vote and learn more about the 36 communities from across the country that have advanced to the voting phase.
An individual may vote for up to five proposals but may vote for the same proposal only once.
There are two easy ways for the public to cast their vote: online at https://vote.levitt.org/locations/batesville/ or via text to 866-AMP-2023 (866-267-2023) with the keyword B8SVILLE.
The number of online and text votes received for Main Street Batesville will be one of the key factors when the Levitt Foundation selects the grant recipients this November. Public voting ends Sept. 21 at 7 p.m. (CST). The Top 20 finalists will be selected through the online and text-to-vote public voting phase. The Levitt Foundation will then review the top proposals and will select up to 10 Levitt AMP grant recipients, which will be announced on Nov. 15, 2022.
The Mortimer & Mimi Levitt Foundation is described in the release as “a national creative placemaking funder dedicated to strengthening the social fabric of America through the power of free, live music. As a foundation committed to building community through music, Levitt AMP revitalizes underused public spaces, ensures access to the arts, and celebrates the power of music to foster connections among people of all ages and backgrounds.”
Main Street Batesville and the city are asking supporters to spread the word to family, friends, co-workers, and neighbors and rally the community to vote for Main Street Batesville’s proposal to bring a free concert series to Riverside Park beginning in 2023.
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