The Peale, Baltimore’s Community Museum, was selected as a finalist for the 2026-2028 Levitt Music Series Grant, a national program that funds free outdoor concerts in communities across the United States.
The Peale is one of 36 community institutions selected to advance to the public voting stage. If it wins, it will receive a matching grant of up to $120,000 over three years to bring live music to City Hall Plaza, which is just outside the museum’s historic home in downtown Baltimore. Winning cities will be awarded up to 10 free concerts per year creating cultural gatherings in underused public spaces.
“Baltimore is a city filled with talent and creativity,” said John Suau, executive director of The Peale. “Winning the Levitt Music Series would allow us to bring people together through the power of live music and celebrate our community in the heart of the city.”
The Peale was recently named one of 51 Spring 2025 Grant Recipients by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, which amounts to $80,000 of program support over two years. The museum is the only institution in Maryland to receive one of the exclusive grants.
The Levitt Music Series is a program whose goal is to strengthen communities and bring new life to public spaces through free concerts and high-quality arts experiences. The program’s aims of increasing access to the arts are reflected in their family-friendly nature and celebration of diverse musical genres while staying true to the local culture hosting them.
The museum’s proposal outlines its deep commitment to bringing the joy of the arts to people who might not have ready access to them and bridging the gaps between the diverse groups of people who call Baltimore home. Its vision for the music series states the museum’s goals clearly:
- Amplify community pride by centering Baltimore’s diverse artists and residents, many of whom have never performed or gathered in such a civic space.
- Enrich lives through free music that brings together families, downtown workers, elders, students, and visitors.
- Activate public space through joyful cultural expression, reclaiming a government-adjacent plaza as a site for community rather than just policy.
“The Peale is committed to building bridges across race, income, and geography,” reads the proposal. “We’ll curate concerts reflecting Baltimore’s cultural richness—from jazz and hip hop to global folk and classical fusion—and pair them with storytelling and history elements that deepen local connection. By making high-quality live music free and accessible, we bring life back to a space with unrealized potential and offer Baltimore a shared cultural ritual rooted in pride, place, and possibility.”
Voting is public and opens Friday, Sept. 5 at 1 p.m. ET and ends Sunday, Sept 15 at 8 p.m. ET. Residents and supporters can vote for Baltimore online or via text by visiting the Levitt website, searching and voting for The Peale in Baltimore. A confirmation message appears once the vote is counted. While voting does not begin until Sept. 5, people can sign up to vote now.
