Aug 28 - Nov 13
School of Filmmaking Symposium
School of Filmmaking: Symposium

The School of Filmmaking's "Symposium" series opens a door into the world behind the screen, offering audiences a chance to engage with filmmakers, artists and creative thinkers from myriad disciplines who are shaping contemporary storytelling. Through screenings, conversations and engaging dialogue, each event becomes a unique space to come together and explore how art is made, why it matters and what it reveals about the world we live in.

Sep 29 - Oct 3
Fall Dance
Fall Dance

The past and present collide as the School of Dance opens its performance season with a dynamic exploration of movement across generations. Contemporary dancers take center stage to perform works shaped by shared training, mentorship and creative exchange.

Oct 1-8
Runied
"Ruined" by Lynn Nottage

Amid the upheaval of civil war in Congo, Pulitzer Prize-winning "Ruined" follows the formidable Mama Nadi, whose bar becomes a haven for women marked by violence, loss and survival. She must skillfully navigate violent power struggles while protecting those who rely on her courage and cunning.

3
Oct
Ksenija Komljenović
Percussionist Ksenija Komljenović in Recital

Engage your imagination and enjoy a bold exploration of sound and identity as faculty artist Ksenija Komljenović presents a solo recital of newly created works. New works by European composers Bartek Miler, Ana Krstajić and Miloš Branisavljević highlight rhythmic precision, tonal color and expressive range. Rooted in Komljenović's heritage, the music draws on a wide spectrum of influences -- folk traditions, blues, jazz, film scoring, and video games -- blending them into a contemporary musical language shaped by agility and invention.

4
Oct
UNCSA Improvised Music and Jazz Studio Fall Showcase
UNCSA Improvised Music and Jazz Studio Fall Showcase

A night of spontaneity, groove and creative risk unfolds as the UNCSA Improvised Music and Jazz Studio presents a smooth showcase of sound. Student performers explore a wide range of jazz and improvised traditions, from structured charts to fully open-ended creation - highlighting individual voice, ensemble listening and real-time musical decision-making.

4
Oct
Iain Quinn
Organist Iain Quinn in Recital

An intimate opportunity to hear a distinctive instrument at the hands of a world-renowned musician and cultural historian, Iain Quinn gives a recital on UNCSA's Fisk, Op. 75 pipe organ. Set within the power and subtlety of the organ, the program explores a full range of emotion -- from quiet, sustained tones to emboldened sound -- highlighting the instrument as much as the performer. Quinn is an award-winning organist, composer and scholar whose work spans performance, composition and musicological research across Europe and the United States. He is professor of organ and coordinator of sacred music at Florida State University, research fellow in the arts and humanities and director of the annual Festival of the Creative Arts in the Office of the Vice President for Research. Quinn is also an Honorary Research Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music.

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Hindsight 2020, a virtual salon

To celebrate the launch of the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts’ new podcast, “Art Restart,” five remarkable artist leaders from around the country came together for a virtual salon on Thursday, January 14, where they discussed what needs to be reinvented in their artistic fields and how they would go about reinventing it. Watch the “Art Restart: Hindsight 2020” virtual salon below.

The pandemic has laid bare what so many artists already knew: So many of the existing systems for supporting and producing art were outdated or running on fumes long before COVID-19. 

The long-overdue national reckoning with systemic racial inequities and injustices has exposed the myriad ways current systems have replicated and maintained exclusionary tactics.

So what’s next? Once life returns to a semblance of normalcy, will artists and artistic institutions return to the status quo or have the events of 2020 presented a unique chance for artists to revolutionize the way they bring their art to their communities?

The guests are:

Yazmany Arboleda
Yazmany Arboleda, a visual artist who has created community-engaging projects from Nairobi to Kabul and who is currently Artist in Residence with New York City’s Commission for Civic Engagement
Murielle Elizeon and Tommy Noonan

Murielle Elizéon and Tommy Noonan, dancers/choreographers and co-founders and co-directors of Culture Mill, a performing arts laboratory in Saxapahaw, NC

Tito Munoz

Tito Muñoz, Music Director of the Phoenix Symphony in Phoenix, AZ

April Parker
April Parker, a cultural worker and architect of Black spaces, currently in residence at Elsewhere museum in Greensboro, NC

 

The moderator is: 

Seema Sueko
Theater director Seema Sueko, who until recently was Deputy Artistic Director of Washington D.C.’s Arena Stage. During the pandemic she created the Arena Stage Artists Marketplace, a new model for regional theaters to connect art, artists and their artistry directly with the public and she is currently creating artistic partnerships with notable think tanks, including The Atlantic Council, for whom she recently directed the film “Veterans Day 2020.”

 

More on Art Restart

The Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts’ “Artist as Leader” interview series and podcast has proved that artists are among the most nimble and resourceful leaders in our communities.  The tumultuous events of the year 2020 made us want to build on this knowledge, while shifting the focus of interviews to more urgently plumb artists’ innate capacity for creative problem-solving. In our new podcast, “Art Restart,” we’ll explore how artists are reinventing their fields and building a new landscape for the arts.

The first season of Art Restart will focus specifically on the lessons of the year 2020.

January 15, 2021