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Midvale Journal

Midvale Receives Leavitt AMP Grant

Jan 26, 2016 10:33AM ● By Amanda Butler

By Amanda Butler | [email protected]

Midvale - Levitt Pavilions announced that Midvale was one of 15 cities that will receive up to $25,000 in matching funds to create a Levitt AMP Music Series on Jan. 5. All funds raised will be used this summer to bring a 10-week concert series to the city. 

An online public voting process in November determined the top 25 finalists. Levitt Pavilions reviewed the top 25 proposals and selected Midvale as one of the winning cities.

“We are all thrilled to be able to present this concert series and give free entertainment to the community,” Stephanie Johnson, president of the Midvale Arts Volunteer Council (MAVC), said. “It is very important for us as an arts council to provide free and low cost entertainment.” 

The concerts will be held on Friday nights, in conjunction with the Friday Night Lights program currently being planned by Mayor JoAnn Seghini and her office. The Cinco de Mayo committee, the Harvest Days committee, the Boys and Girls Club, the Canyon School District and the Unified Police Department are also helping to plan the concert series. 

The online campaign to receive the grant depended heavily on community participation, including sharing on social media and voting for Midvale on the Levitt AMP website. Johnson praised the “long hard work many people put in. We posted videos and asked people to share on social media. Without people sharing and these grassroots efforts, we would not have gotten the grant or in the top 25. We are very grateful to the people who shared.”

However, securing the grant was a first step. Under the Leavitt AMP Grant, Midvale will receive a “dollar for dollar match on everything we raise to spend on our free concert series, up to $25,000,” Johnson said. “So we will be looking for donations from our businesses and neighbors in the community to help bring the best concert series we can to Midvale.” 

“Members of the MAVC will be visiting businesses in the coming months to help raise funds,” Johnson said. “We will appreciate any amount we can get from anybody. If we get $1,000 from a business, Levitt AMP will match $1,000. If we get $10 from a member of the community, Levitt AMP will match $10. Obviously we want to raise $25,000 so Levitt AMP will give us $25,000 in matching funds.”

While the Midvale Arts Council (MAC) had already planned a free summer concert series, the funds from community donations and the matching grant money will allow the council to enhance those existing plans. “We want to give the youth of the community and families something to do on Friday night,” Johnson said. “The concerts will be family friendly. There will also be dinners and art projects.”

The mission of the MAC is “to promote the arts in Midvale by sponsoring quality entertainment and by providing opportunities for Midvale citizens of all ages and backgrounds to enrich their lives by experiencing the positive benefits of the arts and local culture.”

Through the free concert series, the MAC hopes to “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 community really wanted this,” Johnson said of the grant. “It was great we could all pull together.”