WINSTON-SALEM, NC:  The Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts announces two new projects designed by faculty members at the North Carolina School of the Arts (NCSA).

The Creative Challenge Project, BREATHE, is a new initiative that provides a means for the teaching artist faculty at NCSA to design collaborative, multidisciplinary summer intensive projects that will create bridges between NCSA and the larger community, provide opportunities for involvement of all campus constituencies, address an area of underdeveloped aesthetic potential, and allow for learning to be brought back to the North Carolina School of the Arts educational programs.  The duration of each project is at least two weeks with the principal site being off-campus and outside the city of Winston-Salem.

“We are thrilled to provide NCSA faculty with a collaborative learning experience that allows them to breathe in an environment that is not the normal working/artistic space on campus,’ said Margaret S. Mertz, executive director of the Kenan Institute for the Arts.  “This project has the potential for stretching the participants’ intellectual, artistic, emotional and physical capacities, while expanding their professional skills and expertise in new directions.  We look forward to the ways these projects will transform their artistic and educational careers.”

Julian Semilian, a member of the Editing and Sound Faculty in the School of Filmmaking, and Will Taylor, a member of the Visual Arts Faculty in the School of Design and Production, will travel through London and Eastern Europe to meet and study under three of the most influential stop motion/filmmakers of our time, Jan Svankmajer and the Brothers Quay, Stephen and Timothy Quay.  They will document this journey through a detailed, multimedia diary of dialogue with these artists.  Upon returning to NCSA, they will present a seminar focusing on the creative work of these artists and its integration into their own work. 

“We very much appreciate the Kenan Institute’s confidence that investing in art educators and their personal creative endeavors will yield manifold benefit upon their return to the classroom,” said Julian Semilian. “Faculty members are top resources of any school, and their continued participation and renewal in the pulse of the creative world ensures that the students and school they represent maintain a vital place within the circulation of the artistic body.”

Will Taylor said, “We are honored and enthusiastic about this opportunity from the Kenan Institute for the Arts.  These revolutionary artists transcend any one medium and have become visual catalysts constructing surreal environments out of the human condition, culture, history, and the psyche.”

Laura Hart McKinny, a member of the Screenwriting Faculty in the School of Filmmaking, will lead a multidisciplinary group of NCSA faculty and students to participate in the Up with People program for two weeks in August 2008.  Up with People is a global education program which exists to spark young people to action in meeting the needs of their communities, countries and the world while building bridges of understanding as a foundation for world peace. 

“We are deeply grateful to the Kenan Institute for the opportunity to experience Up with People’s global education program that challenges conventional thought by bringing young leaders from different countries together to engage in an experiential learning process, “ said Laura Hart McKinny.  “The curriculum of this program combines theories of global perspectives, leadership and intercultural communication with hands-on learning.  We look forward to sharing the amazing benefits of this program with NCSA faculty, staff and students.”

The North Carolina School of the Arts, the first state-supported, residential performing arts school in the nation, offers professional training for careers in the performing, visual, and moving image arts.  Visit www.ncarts.edu for more information.

The Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts builds partnerships to support creative projects, many of which are associated with the North Carolina School of the Arts.  For more information, visit www.kenanarts.org.