What is Apple’s new Today initiative?
Launching first in Los Angeles and Beijing, participants will receive hands-on experience and mentorship from renowned artists, nonprofit community partners, and Apple.
Apple has announced Today at Apple Creative Studios, a global initiative that will provide career-building mentorship, professional industry skills training, creative resources, and access to Apple’s full product lineup of iPhone, iPad, and Mac to underrepresented communities across the globe. Creative Studios will launch first in Los Angeles and Beijing, followed by Bangkok, London, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. later this year. Apple will work hand-in-hand with nonprofit community organizations in each city to connect youth with mentors and established artists.
Today at Apple Creative Studios, programming will hone creative passion in music, film, photography, and art and design. It will be available to young people who face barriers to meaningful arts education. Across eight to 12 weeks of programming, mentors — in collaboration with Apple and community partners — will take participants through a curriculum of hands-on sessions, insider industry knowledge, and ongoing feedback on participants’ creative projects. Alongside developing creative skills, our mentors and community partners will nurture participants’ self-expression and encourage them to spark social change within their communities. At the end of programming, Apple will host a celebration and showcase of participants’ final works in their local Apple Store location or within the community.“Creativity and access to education are core values for Apple, so we are absolutely thrilled to kick off Today at Apple Creative Studios in Los Angeles and Beijing and to bring this meaningful program to several more cities this year,” said Deirdre O’Brien, Apple’s senior vice president of Retail + People.“Building on our long history of using stores as a venue to host local artists to educate and inspire, Creative Studios is one more way we’re providing free arts education to those who need it most.”Today at Apple will also offer public sessions open to anyone, led by the inspiring artists who provide mentorship experiences to the young participants in Today at Apple Creative Studios. Everyone is invited to register for these sessions at apple.com/today.
Today at Apple Creative Studios – L.A.
Today at Apple Creative Studios – L.A. focuses on developing the talents of young musicians. Working with the Music Forward Foundation and Inner-City Arts and Social Justice Learning Institute, Creative Studios LA will amplify up-and-coming talents’ stories over nine weeks of free programming. Participants will learn creative direction, writing, and production. Participants will create a visual album — called “LA Love Letter” — that hones their new skills to share their stories through music, design, and imagery all by using iPad, Apple Pencil, Beats headphones, and iPhone, as well as GarageBand, Procreate Notes, and the Camera app. The young creatives will have guidance and mentorship from Grammy Award-winning producer Larrance “Rance” Dopson, documentary photographer and filmmaker Bethany Mollenkof, and Apple Music’s Global Editorial Head of Hip-Hop R&B Ebro Darden, along with special one-off sessions taught by additional artists. Creative Studios LA will also give participants unprecedented access to Apple Music creatives and executives like Zane Lowe during its Industry Week, where they can ask experts for advice to take their journey further.“Music Forward aims to transform young lives by breaking barriers of gender, poverty, and race, and bridging them to pathways of success,” said Nurit Smith, Music Forward Foundation’s executive director. “Apple shares our commitment to empowering diverse voices in the creative arts, and we are proud to work hand-in-hand on Today at Apple Creative Studios – L.A. to spark creative discovery, chart careers, and provide opportunity to Los Angeles youth.”
Today at Apple Creative Studios – Beijing
In partnership with the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation and China Social Entrepreneur Foundation, Today at Apple Creative Studios – Beijing will provide hands-on experience and career-building mentorship to migrant youth living in Beijing who have not had a chance to express themselves creatively. Across 12 weeks, Beijing’s programming themes explore photography and videography, music, and app design through iPad, Apple Pencil, Beats headphones, and iPhone, as well as GarageBand, iMovie, and Procreate. Mentors include iPhone photographer Eric Zhang, drummer Shi Lu, and app designer Sun Yong.
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“The youth is our future, and young people in China today have been born into a time of rapid economic growth and shoulder heavy responsibilities,” said Wang Peng, deputy executive director of the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation. “We are cooperating with Apple on Creative Studios Beijing as it aligns with our vision to integrate social resources and encourage young people to solve social problems in innovative ways, and be part of a new generation that is creative, collaborative, and socially responsible.”Today at Apple Creative Studios builds on Apple’s history of providing free educational programming in Apple Store locations worldwide through Today at Apple and career development opportunities through programs such as the Community Education Initiative. In addition, the U.S. expands on Apple’s Racial Equity and Justice Initiative to help dismantle systemic barriers and advance racial equity.
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