The school consists of five professional schools: School of Dance, School of Design & Production (including a High School Visual Arts Program), School of Drama, School of Filmmaking, and School of Music.

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History[edit]

The idea of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts was initiated in 1962 by Vittorio Giannini, a leading American Composer and teacher of Composition at Juilliard, the Curtis Institute of Music, and the Manhattan School of Music, who approached then-governor Terry Sanford and enlisted the help of author John Ehle and William Sprott Greene, Jr.^[3] and Martha Dulin Muilenburg of Charlotte, North Carolina, to support his dream of an arts conservatory. State funds were appropriated, and a North Carolina Conservatory Committee was established. The School of the Arts became a constituent institution of the University of North Carolina system in 1972.^[4]


Vittorio Giannini was the school's founder and first president. His vision of arts education shaped UNCSA at its beginning and continues to influence it today. Giannini served as president of the fledgling institution until his death in November 1966. A resolution dated December 3, 1966, by the board of trustees and the governor pays tribute to Giannini as the founder of the school, noting that "When it was a dream, he sought a home for it and helped bring it into being. When it was an infant institution, he gave it structure and design." The Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Robert Ward became UNCSA's second president following Giannini's death.


In 1974 Robert Suderburg became UNCSA's third chancellor following Martin Sokoloff, the administrative director, who served as interim chancellor from 1973 to 1974. During his time at UNCSA the Workplace building, containing the Semans Library, was opened on the UNCSA campus, as well as the Stevens Center, previously the Carolina Theatre, in downtown Winston-Salem. The gala opening of the Stevens Center featured the school's symphony orchestra conducted by Leonard Bernstein, with Isaac Stern as soloist and Gregory Peck as the Master of Ceremonies. Attendees included Agnes de Mille, Cliff Robertson, Governor James Hunt, President and Mrs. Gerald Ford and Lady Bird Johnson. The Stevens Center remains UNCSA's largest performance facility.^[5]


Jane E. Milley became Chancellor at the School of the Arts in September 1984. In the spring of 1990, Alex C. Ewing was appointed chancellor. He assumed the position in July 1990, following Philip R. Nelson, former Dean of music at Yale University, who served as interim chancellor during the 1989–90 school year. Ewing had been associated with the school since 1985, when he became chairman of the board of visitors. In 1988 he established the Lucia Chase Endowed Fellowship for Dance at the school, in memory of his mother, a co-founder and principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre. Ewing over saw the revitalization of the Joffrey Ballet during his tenure as general director in the 1960s. As chancellor, Ewing oversaw the school's $25 million campaign for endowment and scholarships. He also orchestrated a combination of local, state, and national support to secure the establishment of NCSA's fifth arts school, the School of Filmmaking, in 1993. Ewing took a special interest in NCSA's campus plan. Other capital projects he spearheaded included a new sculpture studio, a new fitness center, and the start of the student commons renovation. Wade Hobgood, Dean of the College of the Arts at California State University at Long Beach since 1993, was named chancellor in February 2000, assuming the position on July 1, 2000.


A 2004 state audit uncovered multiple instances of financial improprieties.


John Mauceri was UNCSA's seventh chancellor.^[6] He assumed the position following Gretchen M. Bataille, former Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs of the 16-campus University of North Carolina, who served as interim chancellor during the 2005–2006 academic year.


In 2008, the institution's board of trustees voted unanimously to change the name of the school from the "North Carolina School of the Arts" to the "University of North Carolina School of the Arts" to raise its profile.^[7] The name change was subsequently approved by the University of North Carolina Board of Governors, North Carolina Senate, North Carolina House of Representatives, and Governor Mike Easley.^[8][9][10]


In 2011, the school settled a lawsuit brought forward by an anonymous former employee after negligently hiring a known sexual predator to its campus police department. According to the Winston-Salem Journal, the amount paid to the former employee by the school was $100,000.


Chancellor Mauceri announced in the fall of 2012 that he would retire at the conclusion of the 2012–2013 academic year. Lindsay Bierman, former editor of Southern Living magazine, served as chancellor from 2014 to 2019, overseeing the implementation of a new strategic plan, widespread campus renovations, and the launch of the largest fundraising campaign in school history.^[11] Bierman departed UNCSA in 2019 to become chief executive officer of the North Carolina public television system, known then as UNC-TV and subsequently rebranded as PBS North Carolina.


In 2020, Brian Cole, who had previously served as dean of the UNCSA School of Music and interim chancellor, was named the ninth chancellor at UNCSA.^[12]


The following year, Soderlund and six other dance alumni sued the school and multiple former administrators for sexual abuses perpetrated by faculty. The lawsuit, Alloways-Ramsey et al. v. Milley et al., case 21-CVS-4831 filed 29 September 2021 in the Superior Court for Forsyth County, was made possible by a special North Carolina law allowing child sexual abuse survivors to file claims through the end of the year. An investigation by the Raleigh News & Observer and the Charlotte Observer found that the school's investigation into alleged faculty misconduct in the 1990s "hid the most damning discoveries." In a subsequent refiling, 32 additional alumni joined the complaint, alleging various forms of sexual, physical and verbal abuse by faculty. 17 more alumni joined the lawsuit in late December 2021, bringing the total number of plaintiffs to 56. In May 2024, with the final number of claimants having reached 65, UNCSA and the survivors' attorneys announced a $12.5 million-dollar settlement to be paid out to the survivors incrementally over four years mostly by the State of North Carolina and partially by the university.^[13]


Stephen Shipps, who worked as a violin instructor at UNCSA from 1980 to 1989 (and was also a defendant in the high school alumni lawsuit), was sentenced to five years in prison on April 14, 2022, for trafficking an underaged girl for the purpose of having sex with her back in 2002. Four decades' worth of sexual misconduct allegations against Shipps, made by women who attended both UNCSA and the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre, & Dance, came to light as the result of an investigation by the student newspaper The Michigan Daily in 2018.