The Kenan Institute for the Arts strengthens our creative community by acting as a catalyst for innovative ideas, developing strategic partnerships and building artists’ capacity to generate, lead and sustain their work. Our programmatic work is focused in three strategic directions: Artist Leadership, Arts and Society and Career Pathways.
Up to five William R. Kenan, Jr. Fellowships at the Kennedy Center are awarded each year to graduates and current students of UNC School of the Arts Schools of Drama and Design & Production. Kenan Fellows are placed on projects with theater companies in Washington, D.C., Louisville, Cincinnati, or Portland and receive a wide variety of experiences bridging their academic training with the professional theater community.
Six candidates from the UNCSA Schools of Dance, Drama and Music are selected each year for a William R. Kenan, Jr. Fellowship at Lincoln Center Education (formerly Lincoln Center Institute). The Fellowship provides emerging artists with knowledge of aesthetic education that will prepare them for work as artists in the field of arts and education.
The Creative Community Lab is a 2500-square-foot leased space in the historic Railroad Building on South Liberty Street. This innovative facility will offer programmatic, office and "blue sky" meeting space for Kenan fellows, guest artists, partner organizations and others.
Internships are provided to emerging artists from the UNC School of the Arts to provide practical knowledge and experience as professional artists embarking on careers in design and production.
William R. Kenan, Jr. Fellowships at Penland School of Crafts are awarded to recent alumni of UNCSA's Visual Arts High School Program. This program brings a Penland visiting artist to UNCSA each year for a lecture and workshop, and provides emerging artists with opportunities to attend intensive summer workshops and studio classes at the Penland School of Crafts in Penland, NC.
The Kenan Directing Fellowship at ACT -- A Contemporary Theatre in Seattle -- provides practical knowledge and experience to recent graduates of the School of Drama at the UNC School of the Arts who are embarking on a career in regional theatre.
Fellowships at WGBH provide opportunities to School of Filmmaking students at the UNC School of the Arts to gain hands-on experience and mentoring during the scripting phase of production on the animated series Arthur. The fellowship begins with attending the Arthur writers' meeting and observing the team process that generates overall direction and storylines for 16 episodes of the series.
School of Filmmaking faculty and students from the UNC School of the Arts are sent to the annual Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in Durham, N.C., to immerse themselves in new and classic documentaries on the festival circuit, engaging panel discussions and master classes with legendary filmmakers.
Fellowships are awarded to music students from the UNC School of the Arts and UNC Chapel Hill to attend the Aspen Music Festival and School in Colorado for eight weeks during the summer.
