Alicia Adams

Alicia Adams has spent more than three decades bringing the world’s most exceptional artists to American audiences, and building the bridges between art, science, and the environment that make INTERWOVEN possible.

For over thirty years she served as Vice President of International Programming and Dance at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, where she curated the Center’s Contemporary Dance program and orchestrated the landmark international festivals that earned her a sterling reputation across the global arts community. She built showcases for the greatest performing and visual artists from countries around the world, while seeking out emerging talents who would go on to become renowned in their own right. In 2023 she launched a groundbreaking international festival series bringing the arts and sciences together around the environment – setting the stage for the provocative exchanges and collaborations that INTERWOVEN now carries forward.

In 2025 she founded URUCUM Global Arts to present today’s most exceptional talents and create an arts ecosystem open to exchange with scientists and environmentalists, offering arts-based experiences that resonate across disciplines and borders.

Before arriving in Washington in 1992, Adams demonstrated leadership in arts management at prestigious New York City institutions, including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Belafonte Enterprises, City Center Theater, Harlem School of the Arts, and International Production Associates.

Throughout her career she has held significant leadership roles across the performing arts field. She has served as Chair of the Board of Trustees for the International Society of the Performing Arts and is currently Co-Vice President of the Association of Performing Arts Professionals. She is a Trustee Emeritus of the Williamstown Theatre Festival, a member of the Founding Council of the Caine Prize for African Writing, and a Trustee of the US China Cultural Institute, having formerly served as a Trustee for Africa 95. Her advisory roles have included the Advisory Board for National Geographic’s All Roads Project and panels for The Pew Charitable Trusts and the National Dance Panel of New England. She currently serves on the Advisory Council for Georgetown University’s Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics and Circle World Arts.

Her honors include the APAP Fan Taylor Distinguished Service Award, the Insignia of Member First Class of the Royal Order of the Polar Star (Sweden), and the Insignia of Knight, First Class, of the Order of the Lion of Finland. In 2026 she received the APAP William Dawson Award for Programmatic Excellence and The Dance Lab Honors.

Adams holds a Master of Arts from Columbia University, a Bachelor of Science from New York University, and a certificate in arts administration from Harvard Business School.