Born This Way Foundation and Exploring the Arts have announced that Venice Arts will be featured at an upcoming stop of Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga's Cheek to Cheek tour in Los Angeles on Sunday, May 31. The initiative is part of a partnership between Born This Way Foundation and Exploring the Arts to highlight exceptional nonprofit organizations at Cheek to Cheek stops across the country. Organizations are chosen based on their demonstrated excellence in empowering young people to become compassionate, creative, and brave.
Venice Arts will be featured prominently at the show including a location for their staff or volunteers to interact with the thousands of fans in attendance, increasing awareness of the services and programs the organization offers. Additionally, Venice Arts will receive the proceeds from a pair of tickets to the show and a meet and greet with Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga that will be auctioned off by CharityBuzz at www.charitybuzz.com/catalog_items/816202.
"We are honored to have our transformative work with low-income youth in Los Angeles recognized by the Born This Way Foundation and Exploring the Arts, who share our commitment to empowering youth to discover and develop their own creative voices." said Lynn Warshafsky, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Venice Arts.
Venice Arts' mission is to ignite youths' imagination, mentor their creativity, and expand their sense of possibility through high quality, accessible media-based arts education programs. For the past 22 years, Venice Arts' program of free media arts instruction, mentoring, and internship opportunities has opened windows of possibility for thousands of poor and low-income children. Since the start of 2014, students have received nearly 40 prestigious national, state, and local awards, including: Presidential Scholar in the Arts; National YoungArts Awards; California Scholastic Arts Awards; and the Music Center's Spotlight Award. Graduating seniors this past spring went off to colleges including Boston University and NYU, some on full scholarships.
"Born This Way Foundation is thrilled to partner with Exploring the Arts to shine a light on the work these exceptional local organizations do for the young people they support. We share a mission to inspire and empower today's youth and the resources and services these groups are providing in their communities are critical to that goal," said Cynthia Germanotta, Co-Founder and President of Born This Way Foundation.
"Exploring the Arts and Born This Way Foundation were founded with the goal of touching the lives of young people and inspiring the next generation of artists and leaders. The local organizations we're featuring share this commitment, working hard every day to uplift young people in their areas," said Susan Benedetto, Co-Founder of Exploring the Arts.
This initiative reflects Born This Way Foundation's commitment to working with local and national allies — from GLSEN and YMCA to Youth Service America — to reach hundreds of thousands of young people directly. These relationships have enabled the organization to connect youth around the country with services and programing in their communities. Similarly, the partnership reflects Exploring the Arts' deep history of engaging local organizations to improve arts education in public high schools throughout New York City and Los Angeles.
Visit www.venicearts.org for more information.
