Black Eyed Peas To Open Arts Academy In SoHo This Summer

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- We've got a feeling that New York City teenagers won't mind going to this lower Manhattan summer school.

The Black Eyed Peas announced Tuesday that they'll be opening a high-tech arts academy in SoHo. Local teenagers will learn video and music production using professional-quality equipment.

The six-time Grammy Award winners' charitable organization, the Peapod Foundation, is collaborating with the Adobe Foundation, the philanthropic arm of software maker Adobe Systems Inc., whose products include Acrobat, Flash and Photoshop, to open the first Peapod Adobe Youth Voices school on the East Coast.

The two foundations already run three Youth Voices academies in California.

The academy will offer classes to students ages 13 to 19 starting this July, the foundations said.

"Our passion for music and media was fueled 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 realize their dreams.''

The academy will be housed in a facility operated by Urban Arts Partnership, which runs after-school arts programs 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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