For immediate use
UNC-Chapel Hill Executive Director for the Arts Emil Kang appointed inaugural member of Artist Protection Fund selection committee
Kang to advise the groundbreaking initiative that aids persecuted artists and performers in global conflict zones
(Chapel Hill, N.C.— Aug. 25, 2015) – Emil Kang, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Executive Director for the Arts and the Executive and Artistic Director of Carolina Performing Arts (CPA), has been appointed to serve alongside a distinguished group of individuals from arts, education and philanthropic communities as an inaugural member of the Artist Protection Fund (APF).
This innovative three-year pilot project, led by the Institute of International Education (IIE) and funded with a $2.79 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, offers life-saving fellowship grants to persecuted artists from all fields of artistic endeavor and places them at host universities and arts centers in safe countries where they can continue their work.
Kang’s critical role as a selection committee member will require him to advise on program policies and procedures; read cases of threatened artists seeking fellowships; assess candidates based upon defined criteria and case binders that demonstrate both level of threat and artistic merit; and provide feedback that will result in decisions on fellowship candidates.
“I am honored to take part in this important initiative to serve the world’s artists, the chroniclers of our humanity, “ said Kang. “I look forward to encouraging our university peers to engage in this endeavor as they have done with the IIE’s Scholar Rescue Fund.”
Kang came to UNC-Chapel Hill in 2005 to unify and elevate the performing arts. In his first year he created the University’s first multi-disciplinary performing arts program in CPA and he has spent the last decade building it into an illustrious performing arts presenter.
In May 2015, Kang announced the latest effort in his groundbreaking work fusing the arts, academics and community at Carolina when he unveiled plans for The Core@Carolina Square, a new innovation lab, studio and theater that will serve as the physical and intellectual home for world-class artists-in-residence to create, innovate and connect with scientists, researchers, students, each other and the community. The Core builds on the success of Kang’s Arts@TheCore initiative, which integrates the performing arts into Carolina’s mission of teaching, research and public service.
“IIE is pleased to welcome Emil Kang to the Selection Committee for the Artist Protection Fund, which will provide fellowships to save the lives and work of threatened artists around the world, said IIE President and CEO Allan Goodman. “As a prominent musician and energetic proponent of the arts at UNC-Chapel Hill, we welcome his expertise in considering applications and selecting candidates for support.”
While emergency arts grants in the U.S. and Europe offer short-term solutions, the IIE, also the organization behind the prestigious Fulbright fellowship, identified a critical need to provide long-term safe havens to artists until they can return to their home country or permanently resettle in a more hospitable place.
The APF was developed to target artists who have been persecuted because of their work or beliefs. It expands on the institute’s nearly 100 years of support for threatened scholars through similar fellowship-based initiatives like the Scholar Rescue Fund (SRF), which has enabled over 600 threatened scholars from 53 countries to escape from harm and advance their work in freedom and safety. UNC-Chapel Hill has been active in the SRF for many years.
Kang will gather with the other members of the APF selection committee two to three times per year to review cases of threatened artists for selection. The first meeting has been set for October 6.
For more information about the Artist’s Protection Fund go to: http://www.iie.org/Programs/Artist-Protection-Fund
-Carolina-
About the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the nation’s first public university, is a global higher education leader known for innovative teaching, research and public service. A member of the prestigious Association of American Universities, Carolina regularly ranks as the best value for academic quality in U.S. public higher education. Now in its third century, the University offers 78 bachelor’s, 112 master’s, 68 doctorate and seven professional degree programs through 14 schools and the College of Arts and Sciences. Every day, faculty, staff and students shape their teaching, research and public service to meet North Carolina’s most pressing needs in every region and all 100 counties. Carolina’s more than 308,000 alumni live in all 50 states and 150 countries. More than 167,000 live in North Carolina.
Carolina Performing Arts contact: Mark Nelson, (919) 260-7430, mark_nelson@unc.edu
Communications and Public Affairs contact: MC VanGraafeiland, (919) 962-7090, mc.vangraafeiland@unc.edu