Sony in America believes in the importance of supporting art in education. We feel that it is especially appropriate that we support the arts in the communities where our employees live and work. Nowhere is this more evident than in the many Southern California communities near the home of Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. has donated Sony electronics equipment to the Sony Pictures Media Arts Program (SPMAP), a program of the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the California Institute of the Arts (CAL ARTS) Community Arts Partnership (CAP) and Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. The free program offers students between the ages of 11 and 14 living within the City of Los Angeles, fundamentals in animation and art technique. Classes are available in drawing, design, color approaches, animation and media technology. Instruction is provided on state-of-the-art computers and video equipment.
Grant dollars from Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. provide support for Los Angeles’ Museum of Contemporary Art Contemporary Art Start program, which allows for extensive training for public school teachers from Culver City High School and culminates in student exhibitions at the Museum. The support also underwrites two trips per year to the Museum for more than 250 Culver City public school students and teachers.
Other arts educational programs supported by Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. include "Arts for All," the Los Angeles County Blueprint for Arts Education; the Armory Center for the Arts "Art High" program; Los Angeles Philharmonic Neighborhood Concerts program; PEN Center USA's "Emerging Voices" program; the Actor's Gang Student Education Initiative and "Innerspark," the California State Summer School for the Arts.
New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, one of the nation's leading centers of undergraduate and graduate study in the performing and media arts, has received generous support from Sony Corporation of America. In addition, Sony serves as the Lead Sponsor of the Online Community of The Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall. In its pilot season in 2008, the Online Community supported Carnegie Hall's Global Encounters (GE) Program, which provides public school students with the chance to explore world history through the indigenous music and cultures that have helped shape global perspectives. Specifically, the Online Community provided students with the opportunity to engage in meaningful cultural exchange with students in other countries.
Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. and Culver City High School: Creating a Place Where Students Can Pursue Their Dreams
Since the cameras first rolled in Culver City more than 80 years ago, the motion picture business has been threaded into the fabric of this community of just over 40,000 in Southern California. But entertainment is not only a part of Culver City's past; it's an integral aspect of its future. Nowhere is this more apparent than at the Culver City High School Academy of Visual and Performing Arts. Established in 1996 with the financial and creative support of Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., the Academy is a remarkable place where students from an ethnically diverse district of West Los Angeles are given the opportunity to pursue their creative interests. With an enrollment of approximately two hundred students, the Academy offers more than fifty courses in Theatre, Film and Video, Music and Visual Arts in both a practical and classroom setting. Within this dynamic environment, students learn to balance coursework while putting on more than twenty productions per year. After graduation, many Academy students go on to top arts programs or directly to work in the entertainment industry. Ongoing support from Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. includes equipment donations, faculty training and student mentoring.
"Thanks to our partnership with Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., the Academy has become a leader in arts education and a place where students can pursue their dreams," said Dr. Laura McGaughey, Superintendent, Culver City Unified School District.
