The performing arts at Carolina have served as a key element of Carolina’s distinctive liberal arts education throughout its evolution into a major research university. For over 200 years the “light on the hill” has led the South in its dedication to intellectual and cultural exploration and defended freedom of expression as an integral part of education for all. The arts at Carolina have also served as a gateway for the larger community to engage the campus, providing opportunities for enrichment and growth.

Carolina has a rich variety of performing and visual arts dispersed widely throughout the university community. The campus is home to professional artists, scholars, students, amateurs, visiting artists and community groups. Their efforts encourage new approaches to learning, challenge students to question their perceptions, and offer a “window on the world” for campus and community alike. Whether celebrating the role of Black Mountain College on the American avant-garde in the 1930’s or examining our society’s struggle with tolerance in PlayMakers Repertory Company’s production of “Yellowman,” our students and entire community explore the many facets of modern culture.

In the coming years, as we work with our Faculty Working Group, Student Arts Forum, and our National Advisory Board, we will work tirelessly to align the arts to the University’s academic plan, and help shape the University’s artistic vision in four distinct areas:

• The role of internationalization on our campus, and its meaning in our communities;
• The heritage of the American South and its contributions to our world;
• The nurturing of a contemporary, contextual artistic environment, defined not by traditional artistic genres but rather by issues and ideas. 
• The representation of our community’s great diversity.

As it enters its third century, Carolina seeks to celebrate and expand these programs by recommitting the university to an artistic future – building both physically and conceptually on past successes to transform the campus into the leading performing arts presenter in the Southeast and;

• A place where the arts can inform the scholarship, research and daily life of every student, faculty and staff member, regardless of discipline; 
• A place where performance does what it does best, giving a context to the subject, be it literature, biology, economics, or physics; 
• A place where students learn that knowledge is not isolated, but part of a larger construct and;
• And a place where artistic endeavors enable critical connections.

A proposed Arts Common, part of the campus master plan, will encompass an area extending southward from Franklin Street, the university’s front door, to Playmakers Theatre, the oldest building on campus dedicated to the arts. As befits the historic idea of a meeting place, the Arts Common will be a space where the campus and community intersect. The Arts Common will serve as the soul of the campus. Renovated, expanded and new facilities will encourage traditional connections and inspire new collaborations. The Arts Common will nurture an environment of innovation.

In 2004, Chancellor Moeser affirmed the importance of this endeavor by establishing a position for an executive director for the arts to lead Carolina’s performing arts programs, to coordinate and expand opportunities and venues.  

In bringing this vision to life campus stakeholders will craft a conceptual “common” for Carolina’s performing arts programs, weaving it into the fabric of the Carolina experience. The arts will complement teaching, research and service, elevating the profile of artistic expression on campus, in the community, the state and throughout the region.

The Performing Arts at Carolina will:

• Bring world-class artists from around the world to our community through the Carolina Performing Arts Series, for the benefit of all who call our region home;
• Develop a performing arts program that reflects the values of the Carolina community and enable it to serve as a gateway to the university;
• Ensure that the performing arts engage the entire university community through the exploration of important issues stimulating campus-wide dialogue and discussion, both in and out of the classroom;
• Encourage artistic collaboration, innovation, and creativity between and among the diverse academic units of the university;
• Showcase the breadth and quality of student and faculty arts programs by unifying the arts voice on campus, through programming, marketing, and dialogue;
• Serve as a vehicle for community engagement, growth, and opportunity; connecting Carolina to the community in ways that enrich the quality of life and contribute to the lifelong learning of the citizens of our State;
• Contribute to the economic vitality of the Research Triangle region and of North Carolina.

We will strive to embody the mission of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: to serve the people of our State and our nation as a center for scholarship and creative endeavor.

What is Carolina Performing Arts?

Carolina Performing Arts is presented by the Office of the Executive Director for the Arts at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Carolina Performing Arts will serve diverse audiences through multi-disciplinary performing arts programs in presentation, creation, and education. Each season will engage, inspire, and entertain audiences through innovative performances. Carolina Performing Arts will commission new work, sponsor artist residencies, and organize collaborative projects with local, national, and international partners. 

Carolina Performing Arts will present the very best from the full spectrum of the performing arts — internationally renowned recitalists and orchestras, dance and chamber ensembles, jazz, folk, and world music performers, and opera and theatre.
Through Carolina Performing Arts, the Office of the Executive Director for the Arts commits itself to inviting outstanding professional artists to perform and to teach; to foster a deep appreciation of a wide variety of the performing arts in the University, in the local community, and throughout the region; and to establish Carolina as a leader in the performing arts in the southeastern United States.
In short, Carolina Performing Arts will strive to reflect the mission of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to serve all the people of the State, and indeed the nation, as a center for scholarship and creative endeavor.

--  Emil Kang, September 2005