Kevin Bitterman joined the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts (TSKIA) at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) as Executive Director in 2021. Under his leadership, the Institute is focused on serving as an incubator and accelerator for new ideas and programs spanning arts and cultural research, building sustainable creative careers, and promoting thought leadership on the future of creative practice and the social impact of the arts.
Recent programmatic initiatives developed by Bitterman include transformational experiences for UNCSA faculty, students, and alumni through residencies with the Penland School of Craft, Cornerstone Theater Company, and La MaMa Umbria International. In collaboration with UNCSA, the Kenan Institute recently launched UNCSA Media, a mission-driven distribution platform for projects by faculty and alumni. Locally, Bitterman co-led a multi-sector partnership with arts, municipal, and public health leaders, securing Winston-Salem’s selection as one of 18 communities in the national One Nation/One Project initiative, Arts For EveryBody, to highlight the the role of the arts in fostering healthier communities.
Currently, Bitterman is leading the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts through a strategic planning process to leverage the power of the arts at UNCSA and beyond, while cultivating a resilient cultural ecosystem. This includes developing partnerships with individual artists and organizations including Dance Theatre of Harlem, Iranian-American filmmaker Cyrus Moussavi and the Off-Broadway Working Theater, and supporting United States Artists to award unrestricted fellowships to artists and cultural practitioners, including those based in Southeast and disciplines taught at UNCSA. The Kenan Institute for the Arts also produces the bi-weekly ArtRestart podcast, which explores how creatives around the world are reinventing their fields and building a new landscape for the arts.
Previously, Bitterman served as Director of Institutional Advancement & Partnerships for Theatre Communications Group and Assistant Director of the Bush Foundation’s Artist Fellows program. He has participated in national relief and recovery efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic and Hurricane Helene, in addition to distributing over $25 million in grantmaking, capacity-building initiatives, conveinings, and professional development programs for early- to mid-career artists and leaders with partners including The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, and the William R. Kenan, Jr. Fund for the Arts.
Organizations
- Member, Board of Trustees, Artist Communities Alliance
- Member, Board of Directors, Frederick Douglass Boulevard Alliance
- Member, Board Directors, Tofte Lake Center
Education
B.A.St. John's University
M.P.A.Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, New York University
GraduateÉcole Jacques Lecoq, Paris
AlumnusJames P. Shannon Leadership Institute
