Don’t you just love a celebrity who cares about social change? Without a doubt Pharrell Williams is one of those celebrities. The famed multi platinum producer “For Real” as Jay-Z has dubbed him is set to open a resource center that will promote arts education. The Pharrell Williams Resource Center will help re-establish arts education programs that have been cut in many schools across the country. With the help of renowned architect Chad Oppenheim, Williams is planning to build the Pharrell Williams Resource Center (PWRC) to provide after-school education, mentoring and arts activities for youth in Virginia Beach, Virginia, the producer’s hometown. The sprawling $35 million resource center will be nestled on the Williams Farm in the Bayside area of Virginia Beach, in proximity to three elementary schools that could use the arts resources.
In an interview with Wallpaper magazine, Williams said of the center:
“Children need guidance and creative discipline and someone to be there when they fail. They also need a safe haven. At the moment, arts organizations across the U.S. are having their funding cut and we can’t let that happen. There’s so little regard for creative skills. Where would we be without design?”
The building will be both eco-friendly–reclaiming materials like steel, stone, metal and wood for construction–and hopeful, with its forward-thinking aesthetic a metaphor for any child’s “fantasy becoming a reality.” The proposed PWRC will open in 2013 and has already locked in a corporate sponsor in high-end cosmetics brand Kiehl’s.
Let’s give it up to Pharrell, hit him up on Twitter and let him know you read about his mission to bring arts back to area youth here on BCG!
Source: MTV
