Historic Onancock School needs your vote to bring free concerts to Pavilion

Historic Onancock School is now in the running to bring a free outdoor music series to Onancock starting in 2026. 

With funding from the Levitt Foundation – national social impact funder at the intersection of music, public space, and community building that supports the largest free outdoor concert series in America— Historic Onancock School hopes to qualify as a finalist to receive a Levitt Music Series Grant. The public is urged to support Historic Onancock School’s proposal by participating in the public voting process, via online or text to vote, taking place from September 5-15, 2025, at levitt.org/vote. 

Levitt Music Series Grants are an exciting, multi-year matching grant created by the Levitt Foundation to bring the joy of free outdoor concerts to towns and cities across the country. For the 2026–2028 grant cycle, the Levitt Foundation will award U.S.-based 501(c)(3) nonprofits up to $120,000 over three years (up to $40,000 per year), to produce their own Levitt Music Series—7-10 free outdoor concerts annually featuring a diverse lineup of music genres with professional musicians, activating an underused public space, creating a vibrant, inclusive community destination for people of all ages and backgrounds. 

The Friends of Onancock School submitted the proposal for Onancock to present the free music series at Historic Onancock School’s newly built Pavilion. Their proposal is now posted on the Levitt Foundation website, where the public can vote and learn more about the proposals from across the country that have advanced to the voting phase. An individual may submit one vote for up to five proposals of their choosing. There are two easy ways for the public to cast their vote: online at levitt.org/vote or via text to 877 409-5525 with keyword ONANCOCK.

Reflecting the Levitt Foundation’s mission that all Levitt projects are community driven, the public voting phase of the Levitt Music Series Grants selection process is an important way to measure community support. The number of online and text votes received for Historic Onancock School will be one of the key factors used when the Levitt Foundation determines the grant recipients this November. 

Online public voting opens September 5, at 1:00 p.m. and ends September 15, at 8:00 p.m. The 50 finalists will be selected through the online and text-to-vote public voting phase. The Levitt Foundation will then review the top proposals to select the Levitt Music Series Grants recipients, which will be announced on November 18, 2025. 

“I am thrilled about the bright future ahead and the incredible opportunities we have to bring our community together through diverse events at our beautiful Pavilion” explains Corey Kavulich, the Executive Director of Historic Onancock School. “With the support of our amazing community, we are in the running for a grant that would allow us to host free live concerts right here in Onancock. This is a chance to make music, arts, and culture even more accessible to everyone – and your vote can make it happen. Every vote gets us one step closer to securing this exciting grant. Together, let’s keep building something special for Onancock.”

Historic Onancock School asks supporters to spread the word throughout the community to family, friends, colleagues, and neighbors and rally the community to vote for The Friends of Onancock School’s proposal. Learn more at levitt.org/vote.

About Historic Onancock School Community and Cultural Center

Built in 1921, the historic building was a bustling school until the last graduating class of 1984. After decades of the building being abandoned, members from the community came together to form the non-profit, Friends of Onancock School, whose mission is to connect, inspire and embrace their diverse community through artistic, educational, social, and recreational means to sustain its’ legacy for future generations. Now, Historic Onancock School has 24 spaces that house local artists, the Eastern Shore Maritime Museum, Onancock Table Tennis Club, Accomack CommUnity Band, a personal training and fitness club and several other entrepreneurs and non-profits. The meeting rooms are used by many groups, clubs, churches and other organizations for business meetings, educational classes, cultural events and social gatherings. The Gallery in the heart of the building also hosts seasonal shows from The Eastern Shore Art League.

Outdoors, Historic Onancock School includes 14 acres of space that is always open for the community to enjoy from dawn to dusk. Their soccer fields are used year-round by hundreds of the youth as they learn skills, sportsmanship, and teamwork. There is also the famous hill, that gets plenty of sledders during the winter months. Spacious fields are ideal for exercise, dog walking, picnicking, relaxing and picking up a game of disc golf on the nine-hole course. The state-of-the-art playground and gathering space includes a handicap accessible swing area. The Native Plant Nature Trail, installed and maintained by the Virginia Master Naturalists, is an oasis along Onancock Creed to take a leisurely stroll, learn about local flora, and experience nature. In the middle of this trail, the observation deck overlooking Onancock Creek is ideal for birdwatching.

This historic site and green space are treasures for locals and visitors to be preserved as well as to serve as safe and useful gathering places that embraces the cultural heritage of the surrounding community.

About the Levitt Foundation

The Levitt Foundation is a private family foundation that exists to strengthen the social fabric of America. The Foundation supports changemakers and nonprofits across the country to activate underused public spaces through free outdoor concerts, creating welcoming, joyful, and inclusive destinations where the power of free, live music brings people together, fosters belonging and social connections, creates economic opportunity, and invigorates community life. Levitt venues and concert sites attract people of all ages and backgrounds 5 Return to Table of Contents Levitt Music Series Grants Voting Toolkit and reflect the character of their town or city, while benefitting from the framework and best practices of the Levitt program.

In 2025, Levitt Foundation grantees are presenting 650+ free concerts in more than 50 towns and cities across the country, with a total audience of nearly one million people. In addition to funding free concerts, the Levitt Foundation supports advancing vibrant music ecosystems through research and partnerships.