Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts

Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts

The Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts was established in 1993 to strengthen the arts by initiating and incubating new ideas within the various constituencies and settings of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA). By leveraging the extraordinary talents and creative energies of students, faculty, staff, and alumni to bring distinction to UNCSA, the Kenan Institute acts as a springboard to the broader creative community.

The Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts strives to create a safe environment, one that allows people from all walks of life to thrive. Doing so demands that we commit to an explicit and continual process of identifying and dismantling systems and practices of bias, exclusion and oppression. Education and art making can be transformational forces for change and we are working so that change leads toward justice.
 
Learn more about equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging (EDIB) at UNCSA. 
Art Restart podcast
Exploring how artists are reinventing their fields and building a new landscape for the arts.
Kevin Bitterman, Executive Director
Kevin Bitterman

Theater professional and arts administrator Kevin Bitterman joined the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts as Executive Director in August 2021, bringing to the organization more than 18 years of experience as a national leader in the nonprofit arts arena. Prior to this role, Bitterman has had success as a program director, fundraiser, producer, grant maker and community leader, most recently serving as director of institutional advancement and partnerships for the Theatre Communications Group (TCG).

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