The Black Eyed Peas accept the award for 'Favourite Music
Group' at Nickelodeon's 24th Annual Kids' Choice Awards in
Los Angeles earlier this month. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)
The Black Eyed Peas are opening a school where local
teenagers will learn video and music production using
professional-quality equipment.
The six-time Grammy Award winners have announced that their
Peapod Foundation, with the Adobe Foundation, will open a
Peapod Adobe Youth Voices music and multimedia academy in
lower Manhattan.
The Peapod Foundation is the hip-hop group's charitable
organisation; it's administered by the Entertainment Industry
Foundation. The Adobe Foundation is the philanthropic arm of
software maker Adobe Systems Inc, whose products include
Acrobat, Flash and Photoshop. The two foundations already run
three Youth Voices academies in California: in Los
Angeles, Oakland and Redwood City.
The New York academy will offer classes to students ages 13
to 19 starting this July, the foundations said.
"Our passion for music and media was fuelled by many generous
people on our road to success," Black Eyed Peas rapper
will.i.am said. "Expanding the network of Peapod Adobe Youth
Voices academies enables us to pay it forward, giving more
youth the skills and encouragement they need to realise their
dreams."
The academy will be housed in a facility operated by Urban
Arts Partnership, which runs after-school arts programmes for
teens who attend high-poverty schools.
Students will be accepted into the academy based on
recommendations from teachers and demonstrated interests in
subject areas such as camera work, editing and graphic
design.
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