Current Donors

Donor profile: Jack Lemon of Landfall Press

The mere mention of Landfall Press - owned by donor and alumnus Jack Lemon - conjures up thoughts of legendary artists from Christo to Cottingham, Diebenkorn to Dill, Westermann to Wiley. For more than 30 years, Landfall Press has been the Mecca for artists working in almost every traditional print medium as well as more innovative techniques that transcend two-dimensional works on paper.

Landfall Press was the first publisher to add three-dimensional collage elements to Christo's work. Founder Jack Lemon ('63 painting and printmaking) credits his days as a student at the Kansas City Art Institute for getting him started.

"I was a Korean War veteran and went on the G.I. Bill," he said. "I thought I wanted to be a history professor, but when I found out there was an art school, I changed my mind."

After getting his diploma, he went to Los Angeles, but when then-KCAI president Andrew Morgan asked him to come back, teach lithography and create a portfolio for the faculty, he returned. That's where it began, and there's no end to the pride Lemon feels for the college today.

"The Kansas City Art Institute was the first school in the United States to have a professional workshop," he said. "Richard Diebenkorn, Sam Francis, H.C. Westermann all came through - a lot of superbe artists. It was Andrew Morgan's vision."

After creating a similar workshop in Nova Scotia, he ventured out on his own and Landfall Press was born in Chicago in 1970. It is now located in Santa Fe, N.M., where Lemon and his wife have had a home for 17 years.

"If it wasn't for KCAI, I never would have gotten involved in printmaking," he said. "A few years ago I decided I wanted to gie something back."

Lemon established an endowed scholarship fund in his name. It is an unrestricted fund, and he allows the school to choose the recipients. He said KCAI found a unique way for him to fund the scholarships from his estate.

"It's funded every year by the sale of the pieces I gave them from Landfall," he said. "I wanted to give young, incoming students the opportunity to study at the college - to have the same opportunity I had."

Lemon said he likes the progress the Art Institute has made since he was a student.

"When I went, you had to take academics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and KCAI wasn't even accredited. There were no dorms. Now it's an entirely different place, but it continues to turn out really good people."

Another change he's noticed: "Most of us were veterans, some World War II, but mostly Korean War. And there were very few somen," he said. "I like what it's become."

Donor recognition list

All that the students, alumni, faculty and staff achieve at KCAI would not be possible if it were not for the support and commitment of foundations, corporations and individuals who believe in our mission and work on our behalf in countless ways.  We are honored to recognize them for the critical role they are playing in the future of art and design and in higher education. (Gifts given from July 1, 2008, through June 30, 2009 are included.)

Announcement of new gifts

The Kansas City Art Institute has received a grant to support an ongoing series of paid student internships at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. A $500,000 gift to the college from the Stanley H. Durwood Foundation has been matched by the Barbara Hall Marshall Endowment Challenge, effectively parlaying the foundation’s gift into a $1 million perpetual fund. Longtime KCAI trustee and supporter Barbara Hall Marshall issued the challenge to KCAI in 2007 as a catalyst for doubling the college’s endowment. 

Four KCAI students have been selected for internships at the museum this summer and fall, and additional internships will be awarded in coming years. Claudia Chagui and Shawn Tull, both seniors majoring in animation, will intern in the museum’s design department, working on motion graphics and animation projects under the supervision of Amanda Zeitler, exhibition designer. Justin Rulo-Sabe, a senior double-majoring in art history and interdisciplinary arts, will intern in the imaging services department, where his supervisor will be Stacey Sherman, senior coordinator, rights and reproductions. In the fall, Paul Smith, a senior majoring in ceramics, will intern in the museum’s preparation department under the supervision of Mark Milani, chief preparator.
 
“We are so grateful to the Durwood Foundation and to Barbara Marshall for making this important, career-building program possible,” said Kathleen Collins, president of KCAI. “Students become interns to expand their experience in career fields they hope to enter. At The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, our students will be working with museum professionals in jobs that are critical to the operation of a major cultural institution. Such internships are a strong addition to a student’s resume.”
 
“Partnerships with our neighbors, the Kansas City Art Institute, always bring benefit to both of us. We’re delighted with this latest cooperation,” said Karen Christiansen, chief operating officer at The Nelson-Atkins Museum. “Support from the Durwood Foundation speaks well for both institutions, and the vision of Barbara Hall Marshall should be much applauded.”