Macklemore launches youth arts program at Seattle’s MoPOP

Macklemore is hoping to keep arts education alive in his hometown of Seattle, teaming up with business partner Ryan Lewis to launch a brand new music program aimed at underprivileged youths.

It’s called “The Residency,” a partnership with the Museum of Pop Culture and nonprofit Arts Corps designed to immerse teens in song writing, beat making, and more.

“Ever since I first got a little bit of money and a platform, it was like, ‘OK how can we do something in Seattle that we didn’t have as kids?'” Macklemore told CBS News in an interview about the program.

Macklemore has made no secret that  learning to make music helped him out of a cycle of addiction that started as a teenager, with the hope that sharing his love of music will help students the same way it helped him.

Applications for the program are now closed for the year, but for anyone who applied in time, they will be provided with four fully-funded weeks of hands-on instruction, professional studio recording of participants’ original music, daily lunch, bus tokens, and a $600 stipend at the completion of the program.

The hope is that it will help those without access or resources to hone their musical talents an outlet for their creativity.

“The Residency is designed exclusively for rising teen artists from the greater Seattle area who meet the King County low-income verification,” MoPOP’s web portal for the program describes.

It will feature up to 45 teenagers between the ages of 16 and 19. Each participant will record an EP of their music in a professional studio, and then perform it live at MoPOP’s Sky Church at the conclusion of the program.

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