President Folt announces new vice provost for the arts position

Photo of new USC vice provost of the arts, Josh Kun
Josh Kun (Photo/Courtesy of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation)

USC Annenberg Professor Josh Kun hopes to create a collaborative arts vision across the university’s campuses.

Josh Kun, USC’s new vice provost for the arts, will partner with the university’s art schools and USC Museums to create university-wide programs, new initiatives and fundraising to activate the arts across the university and Los Angeles arts community.

“Across our campuses and our 22 diverse schools, we embrace the arts at scale: within every program, linking disciplines and helping faculty, staff and students bridge gaps in truly uncommon ways,” Folt said.

As vice provost for the arts, Kun — who will remain on the USC Annenberg faculty and continue to teach and advise students — will partner with the university’s art schools and USC Museums to create university-wide “signature arts programs,” new initiatives and fundraising to “activate the arts” across USC and the broader Los Angeles arts community.

As part of this role, Kun will also serve as chair of a university Public Arts Committee tasked with creating a vision and a set of policies around managing public art on USC’s campuses.

USC vice provost for the arts: Teaching the arts in a global city

Kun said one of the things he loves about facilitating artistic connections across campuses is the way classroom material easily “explodes the physical boundaries and walls of the classroom.”

“To teach about the arts at USC is to be a part of a living ecosystem in L.A., where students really can get a sense that classroom material is not separate from everyday life,” Kun said. “You’re also teaching in a community of incredible diversity, where students are coming from different backgrounds and bring artistic histories to bear on the present work of the class.”

One of Kun’s main goals as vice provost for the arts will be to deepen and expand USC’s ability to tap into the professional pipeline between students and the city’s creative industries while engaging the university’s robust alumni networks. USC has six conservatory-level arts schools: the USC School of Architecture, the USC Kaufman School of Dance, the USC Thornton School of Music, the USC School of Dramatic Arts, the USC School of Cinematic Arts and the USC Roski School of Art and Design.

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