Building upon a long history of neighborhood youth arts programming, MACLA teamed up in 2011 with The Black Eyed Peas Peapod Foundation and the Adobe Foundation to start the Peapod Adobe Youth Voices Academy (PAYVA). This model enriched MACLA’s original platform by increasing its regional and national visibility as well as providing additional resources for teaching, production, and performance. 

In 2020, MACLA was pleased to launch the brand-new Teen Tech Center at MACLA in partnership with Best Buy and The Clubhouse Network. The TTC is a free arts education program in San José, CA, dedicated to mentoring Silicon Valley youth (ages 11-19) in 21st-century skill development through multimedia production. The highly selective, year-round program focuses on a range of disciplines, including professional video and sound production, visual and performing arts, and photography. Summer and after-school workshops range from individual to group-based projects and are taught by experienced industry professionals in a state-of-the-art studio environment.

In addition, the TTC provides youth with a venue for the exploration of relevant social, personal and community issues. It encourages youth to engage in community dialogue, develop their artistic voices, become cultural innovators, and discover how art is used for social change. Because of its latest digital technology offerings, a variety of workshops, and multidisciplinary, hands-on approach to digital literacy, the TTC provides youth with artistic, technical, and practical work skills and experience to prepare them for college and beyond.

In 2022, the TTC at MACLA was selected to add to Clubhouse-2-Career Pathways workshops, which focus on bridging the gap of young adults from the BIPOC community who are entering the tech workforce. This is done through engaging workshops and hands-on programming ending in workforce readiness skills for teens.   

Students from any skill level are welcome to join our program anytime during the year.