Mission, Vision & Manifesto

Our Mission

The University of North Carolina School of the Arts provides gifted emerging artists with the experience, knowledge, and skills needed to excel in their disciplines and in their lives, and it serves and enriches the cultural and economic prosperity of the people of North Carolina and the nation. UNCSA is the state’s unique professional school for the performing, visual, and moving image arts, training students at the high school, undergraduate, and master’s levels for professional careers in the arts. (Approved by the UNC Board of Governors 2/2014 and 7/2022)

The UNCSA Manifesto

Artists enrich our culture, enlighten our society, lift our spirits, and feed our souls.

Integrative arts education from an early age sparks a lifetime of creative thinking, powerful self-expression, and innovative problem solving.

Rigorous artistic training empowers our students and graduates to engage our communities, advance local and global creative industries, and inspire the world.

Arts organizations improve the quality of life and place in big cities and small communities, transforming them from merely livable to truly lovable.

UNC School of the Arts nurtures the talent, hones the craft, and develops the unique voices of emerging artists. We realize the full potential of exceptionally creative and passionate students to do their best work and become their best selves.