Black Eyed Peas and Adobe team up to bring Arts Academy to Club Teens

Apl.de.ap, Taboo and Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas, Ann Lewnes, Adobe's SVP of Marketing admiring Club member Juan Villa's sketch of the hip hop group at the Art Academy dedication event on Saturday.	Club Alum Maria Centeno and Victor Rosas addressing guests at Adobe Youth Voices Live in San Francisco Saturday Night.

Juan Villa, Jose Saavedra and Damares Valencia are budding artists who spend much of their week at the Boys and Girls Club in Redwood City.

The three teens, all 16, have various interests. Villa will spend weeks crafting portraits with a mechanical pencil, Saavedra likes to dance and make videos and Valencia is into music.

All three of them and about 250 other teens benefit from the generosity of the Adobe and Black Eyed Peas Peapod foundations, which unveiled two new media academies over the weekend, one at the Mervin G. Morris Clubhouse on Hilton Street in Redwood City and the other in Oakland.

The collaboration between Adobe and the Peapod Foundation focuses on giving youth access to multimedia production tools for video, dance, music and art.

“I love dancing and have a passion for music,” Saavedra said. “But it's hard to find places to go and record music outside of here.”

The media academy is equipped with a 24-track mixing board, video production tools, computers and all of Adobe's coveted software. Teens learn how to use Photoshop, Premiere and other programs through the help of mentors and Boys and Girls Club staff.

On Saturday, Villa, Saavedra and Valencia got to show off their talents and efforts to the group who helped give them the tools to develop their new skills — the Black Eyed Peas themselves.

Fergie, Taboo and apl.de.ap visited the Redwood City club Saturday afternoon to get a firsthand look at the benefits of their generosity (will.i.am missed the event due to sickness).

The three pop stars strolled effortlessly through the center, visiting with teens and getting a glimpse at the students' digital art, pencil art, dance moves, music and video recordings.

The Black Eyed Peas have garnered Grammys, sold millions of records and currently have one of the top-selling albums in the country.

But on Saturday, the three music icons dimmed their star power to put the emphasis on the teens and their newfound talents.

Peter Pheap, 32, is the unit director at the Boys and Girls Club in Redwood City. He has worked there since 2002 and teaches Web and graphic design and music.

“This academy will be a main attraction for teens. They can't participate if they don't do good grades. That's our goal here, to get these kids to graduate,” Pheap said.

The Adobe Foundation was started about two years and has academies in 30 countries, said Ann Lewnes, senior vice president of marketing.

“It's all about giving youth the opportunity to express themselves through media,” Lewnes said. Adobe plans to expand the program locally in coming years.

Redwood City Mayor Rosanne Foust and Councilman Jim Hartnett were at Saturday's event.

“We are absolutely thrilled they chose Redwood City for this academy,” Foust said. “It's great for the community.”

But no one was as thrilled Saturday as 16-year-old Juan Villa. Villa had spent the past two weeks working on a pencil portrait of the pop group. When the group saw the drawing their faces lit up and Fergie reached for a pen to sign Villa's work.

“This is great work,” she told Villa.

The Adobe Youth Voices Summit was held at Stanford University last week and focused on all aspects of digital media, including film making, photography, animation and design, with workshops designed to empower youth to create media for social change and cultivate a deeper sense of social and civic engagement.

Following the Redwood City academy opening, the Black Eyed Peas made an appearance to kick off Adobe Youth Voices Live! The event was the closing session of the first annual Adobe Youth Voices Summit, a three-day digital immersion experience bringing together 100 international youth and educators from underserved communities around the world.

 

Peas Apl.de.ap, Taboo and Fergie with Club Teens

Club Member Juan Villa's sketch autographer by the Peas will be displayed at the Arts Academy.