area
Area Projects is a creative studio focused on events that bring people together through hospitality and cultural programming.
Area is founded by Danielle Sheli Levy and Kacie Paganelli. Their collaboration began in 2020 with their concept-driven, pop-up dinner series, Perimeter.
In 2022, Area began producing events for Cake Zine, a literary magazine exploring society through sweets. Their work with Cake Zine has been featured in the The New York Times, Nylon, Interview, The Cut and most recently V Magazine.
Danielle Sheli Levy is a creative director, producer, and cultural programmer. Born and raised in Houston, Texas; based in New York since 2012.
Danielle has worked with Hinge, MSCHF, Sandy Liang, The Shed, New Museum, NEW INC, International Center of Photography, National Sawdust and the Whitney Museum of American Art, where she produced over 130 live performances with more than 40 different artists.
Her work as a producer has been screened at SXSW (2020) and Tribeca Film Festival (2022), and featured in New York Times (2018, 2019, 2020), Time Magazine, Wall Street Journal, Variety, Ad Age, Teen Vogue, Frieze, among others.
She cut her teeth working on the line at The Loyal and Cervo’s before moving to front of house at Ernesto’s, il Buco, and Crown Shy. Kacie spent the past two years at Claud and Penny, where she was a part of both opening teams. During her time at Claud, the restaurant was ranked in the top 40 of The New York Times 100 Best Restaurants of 2023 and 2024.
Developing an expertise in hospitality openings, Kacie shepherded the successful Brooklyn debuts of Eavesdrop, and most recently Million Goods. Both openings were met with lines down the block and rave reviews from Time Out, Grub Street, and Vinyl Factory.