Community Arts & Service Learning

The Community Arts and Service Learning program at KCAI began in 2005.

When his summer school plans fell through, Jon Dandurand ('05 sculpture) went to the Academic Resource Center for help finding a way to earn the remaining three credit hours he needed to graduate. KCAI's community partner, Mattie Rhodes Counseling & Art Center, needed an intern for their summer art camp, and Jon was a perfect fit. The CASL program was initiated to continue to pair talented students with KCAI's community partners.

Community Arts and Service Learning certificate program

Ryan LaFerney works with his students during his internship at UMKC School of Education's Edgar L. and Rheta A. Berkley Child and Family Development Center.

The CASL program encompasses a rigorous 15 credit hour academic curriculum noted for its three credit hour service learning internship. Students who complete the program will be eligible for a certificate in community arts.

Participating students will be required to take three courses in liberal arts; "Collaborative Art Practices," which is offered in through the college's interdisciplinary arts program; two studio classes; and an internship.

Semester-long internships place students in community agencies as volunteers to develop skills they will need to become active, contributing members of their community -- skills that include planning, resource management, communication, evaluation and working independently and as a member of a team.

Just as their work supports the mission and goals of their community partner, the students' experiences expand and deepen their classroom and studio education. In a service learning internship, the students represent the college and may seek the resources of the Kansas City Art Institute -- facilities, faculty, programs -- to address the issues facing the community agency.

Students may become a service learning intern with a KCAI community partner in one of three ways: as a student enrolled in the CASL certificate program; as a service learning volunteer independent of the academic program; or through a service learning work-study assignment.

KCAI's community partners include:
816 Bike Collective
Accessible Arts
Boiler Room
Berkley Child Development Center (UMKC)
Dela Salle Education Center
Girl Scouts of America
Kansas City, Kansas School District
Mattie Rhodes
Operation Breakthrough
Rose Brooks Center

For more information about the CASL certificate, contact Julie Metzler, director of career services and Community Arts and Service Learning, at 816-802-3357 or jmetzler@kcai.edu.

CASL certificate requirement sheet

The CASL certificate requirement sheet is available here (PDF).

KCAI-Brush Creek Community Rain Garden

As part of the Community Arts and Service Learning program at KCAI, students collaborated with a variety of civic organizations and businesses to create the KCAI-Brush Creek Community Rain Garden.

The garden, located in Theis Park at Volker Boulevard and Oak Street,  was formally dedicated on May 2, 2008.

The rain garden was designed by students who participated in the course “Persuasive Ecology and Design." The goal of the class was to provide an opportunity for students to learn about the ecology of the region, address community needs and learn how to communicate basic ecological principles to the general public. The garden is designed to educate the public about the advantages of capturing rainwater where it falls and using native plans to help it soak into the soil instead of running off the surface.

Students designed the rain garden in collaboration with Brush Creek Community Partners and representatives from several of its member organizations including the Kansas City Parks and Recreation Department and the Missouri Department of Conservation’s Discovery Center. Several Kansas City firms and individuals offered advice, hands-on assistance, materials or cash donations, including Embassy Landscaping, McCownGordon Construction, BNIM Architects, Black & Veatch, Dimensional Innovations and Linda Lighton. Individuals from city departments, including Kansas City Water Services, and from other local organizations, including the University of Missouri-Kansas City, all donated time and expertise.

KCAI and its community partners have continued working on the garden since its creation during the 2006-07 academic year.

Faculty liaisons are Julia Cole, chair of interdisciplinary arts, and Tyler Galloway, assistant professor of graphic design. Staff liaison is Julie Metzler, director career services and CASL.

For more information, e-mail brushcreekraingardenupdates@gmail.com.