KCAI Blogs

SNAAP project for members of the Classes of 1989, 1994, 1999 and 2004

Did you graduate from Kansas City Art Institute 5, 10, 15 or 20 years ago? If so, by now you should have been invited to participate in an important national survey. SNAAP – the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project – is taking the pulse of graduates of arts institutions nationwide this fall.

Please take some time to complete the survey if you have not already done so. Your input will help us understand things that we do well, and things we need to change. Thanks so much – we really appreciate it!

www.snaap.indiana.edu

Hello alumni,

Whew!  We had a busy spring and early summer here in the alumni relations office, so my apologies for being behind on blogging.

I would like to share with you a fun experience I had in late April.  The printmaking department had its 3rd Annual Road Roller Print Event, and two alumni joined printmaking faculty and students in the parking lot of Vanderslice Hall for the festivities: Ben Jones (`08 printmaking) and Lloyd Patterson, Jr.  (`99 scultpure).

It was a hot, sticky day (even in April!), and many participants shed their outer wear to cool down.  Krystal Kuhn (`11 printmaking), one of the alumni office’s work study students, even got a bit of a sunburn. Despite the discomfort of the unusually warm weather, merriment and beautiful prints were made.  As you can see below, Ben manned the steam roller, and he did a terrific job.

Below: Lloyd Patterson, Jr. (left) and Ben Jones (right)

Hello alumni,

The Southern Graphics Council Conference is taking place in Chicago this week.  I will not be able to attend, unfortunately, but I will be there to host an alumni gathering at Anchor Graphics @ Columbia College Chicago on Friday evening.  I hope that a lot of alumni are able to come out.

I also hope that Chicago isn’t too cold!  I attended Northwestern University in Evanston, so I am no stranger to the wintery blasts of Chicagoland.  In fact, because of the nasty weather, I ventured to Kansas City to work for you lucky people instead of remaining in my old stomping grounds.

Chicago folks, I’ll see you soon!  Kansas City, try not to miss me too much during my short trip. (:

Hello alumni,

On Friday, President Collins and I bundled up in our winter coats and headed over to the ceramics department to see the winter intersession exhibit. It was a fun and informative trip, because we not only got to see the beautiful work but also learned about the techniques the students used to make it.

For example, George Timock showed us a circular porcelain mold that he had procured on a recent trip to Hungary. (The ceramics faculty members annually offer a study abroad trip to the International Ceramics Studio in Kecskemet, Hungary.)

Also, continuing education student and landscape designer Chris Hamill showed me a small piece with bubbles and plant matter stuck inside, and he said that the bubbles are created by the gas released from the dead matter.  (Another student created a piece with a dead bat inside. Gross but cool!)

As you can see, the students are quite talented and worked hard this winter! Mariko Brown’s (`10 ceramics) work is below:

Below, George poses with his lab assistant, Anne Speelman (`09 ceramics), and two intersession students, Mariko Brown (`10 ceramics) and Laura Blumenberg (`10 ceramics).

(From left: Anne Speelman, George Timock, Mariko Brown, Laura Blumenberg)

Hello alumni,

This month, I stopped by the fiber dept. to say hello to Mary Beth Yates (`03 fiber), who taught Entrepreneurial Textiles during the winter intersession.  The description of the class is below:

Entrepreneurial Textiles
FIBRE 380
Prerequisite:  Fiber I
This class runs concurrent with an International Textile Conference on Entrepreneurial and Innovative Textiles hosted by The Center for Craft Creativity and Design in Hendersonville, North Carolina. Students will travel to North Carolina to attend the conference, view the accompanying exhibition and tour a weaving mill. Areas to be covered by internationally renowned speakers include the five growth areas: E-Textiles, Interactive Textiles, Clothing and Interior Textiles as well as Textiles as Fine Art for Corporate and Public Commissions.

Over a leek pizza and chicken chili soup lunch at Pizza Bella in the Crossroads Arts District, Mary Beth told me that students who sign up for winter intersession courses tend to be highly motivated and that she was very pleased with the progress of the students in her class.

After a move to her home state of New Mexico in this past fall, Mary Beth came back to Kansas City temporarily to teach Entrepreneurial Textiles.  With the classes drawing to a close last week, Mary Beth is off to New Mexico.  We’ll certainly miss her!

Upcoming events: Mary Beth will be exhibiting new work in a solo show at the Leedy-Volkous Art Center in the summer of 2009. http://www.mbytextiles.com/

Hello alumni,

I hope that all of you enjoyed the holidays.  I know I certainly did!  My holiday break included Christmas in San Diego and New Years in my hometown of Pekin, Ill. During my short time in San Diego, my family and I took a trip up to La Jolla to experience the beautiful coastline and the fresh sea air. My sister, Audrey, suggested that we visit the La Jolla location of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. (There are two locations for MCASD, and the other one is located in downtown San Diego.) Audrey suggested the art museum with me in mind.  I don’t think my family exactly knows what  my job is, but they do know that it is art-related. (:

An immense, delightfully freakish sculpture is installed in front of the entrance to the museum. Moving closer, I was delighted to discover that this prominent piece was created by Nathan Mabry (`01 ceramics). I had the opportunity to have lunch with Nathan at the H & R Block Artspace when he visited campus last spring as a distinguished lecturer.  I have read glowing reviews of his exhibits, but I had never seen his work in person before, so stumbling upon one of his sculptures, “Process Art (Dead Men Don’t Make Sculpture),” while on vacation was an unexpected treat.

Lock up your daughters and hide your pic-a-nic baskets! Advancement’s own Joe Fuller `11 is bear-suited up and causing mischief on campus.  Alumni, if you don’t have enough excitement in your lives, you should visit us more often to see our fascinating wildlife (not just rabid squirrels anymore!).

Okay, okay: I’m pulling your leg.  Joe isn’t really doing anything untoward.  In fact, he is making art just like we’re encouraging him to.  Check out the blurb Joe wrote below, in reference to his performance on Nov. 14:

“The Picnic,” a collaboration between myself, Joe Fuller, a Digital Film major and Rachel Rolon, a Fibers major.  The piece stems from costume, combined with our mutual interest in creative writing and mimetic story telling (showing rather than telling).  The performance itself depicts a young woman who decides to have a picnic, her dress transforms into the picnic blanket, which in turn sets the stage for the action.  A bear joins her, when he sits on the blanket-like dress the girl is now trapped.  The bear builds trust by playing some games and drinking imaginary tea all to the tune of content-lacking newscasts played from the bear’s furry radio.  It is in this moment of comfort that bear deceives the girl.  He closes here eyes similar to the other games, and then steals all of her belongings.  When she opens her eyes she is shock, she has been taken advantage of, her innocence is lost.  The project was not for any particular class, instead it was a “what if?” that became a reality.

There will be an installation consisting of a video documentation of the performance as well as the costumes themselves.  It will be exhibited during the end of semester show around 5 p.m. on December 5^th, located across from the main entrance of the Irving Building.

We would like to extend our gratitude to everyone involved in this project; it could not have been done without you!

Hello alumni,

On October 23, we had an alumni gathering at the Mike Weiss Gallery in New York.  About 40 alumni came to view Amy Myers’ solo exhibit, “Spin Zero” and catch up with former classmates.  Here are some images from the event:

Kris Umezawa, Amy Myers (`95 painting) and President Kathleen Collins pose in front of Amy’s piece, “Spin Zero.”

harriet regina marion (`74 painting) and Theresa Kasun (`88 painting) get acquainted.

R. Justin Stewart (`03 ceramics), Mamie Kanfer (`04 ceramics) and David Alban (`83 ceramics) are probably talking about how much they love clay.

After our gathering ended, Kathleen, Julie Metzler and I headed over to the Santorelli Gallery down the street to view the group show, “Small Works.”  One of our own, Charles Birnbaum (`76 ceramics) had two exquisite pieces in this exhibit.

Hello alumni,

Believe it or not, 2009 is right around the corner.  That also means winter is coming…yuck.  But who can think of a better way to cure the winter blahs than a KCAI alumni gathering?  I bet nobody can think of a better way.  In fact, if anyone can, I challenge that person to call me at the alumni relations office – 816-802-3461, and I will engage that person in a lively debate and surely win.

Printmaking alumni will surely be glad that we will be in Chicago during the Southern Graphics Council Conference (SGCC), because we will have an alumni gathering then.  The conference will be held the last week of March 2009.  Our gathering will take place in the evening, sometime between March 25-29.  I will get back to you on that as we get closer to that time. All alumni are invited (not just printmakers!), so I hope to see many of you there.  We can compare notes about who makes the best Chicago-style pizza.  It’ll be great.

I’ll leave you with a recent photo of the printmaking department taken by our own Krystal Kuhn (`11 printmaking).

This past Saturday, I attended an evening reception at J. Bird Studios in Kansas City, Kan. for Holly Swangstu’s (`94 fiber) September exhibit of fiber paintings. Holly is the gallery director of the Leedy – Voulkos Art Center, and she is also currently making new work.  Holly also has tie-dyed baby onesies for sale at J. Bird. I thought they were very cool.

Holly Swangstu

As well as chatting with Holly, I caught up with Jori Cheville Herbert (`04 ceramics) and Cara Long (`04 ceramics/art history).  They have also been very busy.

Jori is the director of J. Bird Studios.  Her ceramic pins, necklaces, and coasters caught my eye as I made my way to the refreshment table set up in the back.  Jori told me she was getting ready for a solo show at the Opie Gallery at the Leedy – Voulkos Art Center.  Go Jori!  You can check out her blog at joriandthejbird.blogspot.com.

Cara Long is getting ready to exhibit , as well.  Her show, “suspension and pause: illuminated porcelain installations,” will take place October 10 – November 8, 2008 at J. Bird.  Cara visited my office today just before driving off to Tennessee for another solo show. She will be showing translucent porcelain artwork at the Appalachian Center for Craft in Smithville. The ACC is one of the premier art and fine craft centers in the nation, featuring local and national artists in their galleries, and offering long-term residencies in multiple fine craft disciplines.  She is probably about halfway to Tennessee right now.  It’s a 10-hour trip. Safe travels, Cara!

Cara Long