Career services
At the Kansas City Art Institute, we believe that preparing students for success in the workplace is as important as helping them succeed in the classroom. Beginning in their first year, our students participate in sequenced, career-related experiences that facilitate their journey to graduation and help them plan beyond the completion of their B.F.A. degree.
Our career services office provides information and counsel
to both students and alumni while serving as a hub for job-related resources.
Our office, library and computers are available from
8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Feel free to drop by for quick questions; call 816-802-3443 to schedule an appointment, or e-mail at careerservices@kcai.edu.
Career counseling and opportunities
The career services office provides advice and resources for students to find art-related employment. Lists of job and art-related Web sites are available for on-line research.
The staff expands students' knowledge of career options and assists them in career skills development and to create an organized career strategy through group and personal counseling sessions. Information on graduate schools is also available in our library.
In addition, our office receives requests from individuals in the community looking for students to help them with art-related projects and freelance work. Companies and small business owners also contact KCAI to seek graduates interested in full or part-time employment. To post items on this list, e-mail information to careerservices@kcai.edu.
Current opportunities and a list of Web resources are provided on our opportunities list.
Alumni involvement
Information about alumni activities is available through alumni resources. You'll be able to view current and past issues of Alumni News and see what other services KCAI offers for our graduates. Career services and alumni affairs work closely together to help our current students as well as our graduates stay in touch and support one another. Both offices provide services for as long as they are needed.
We encourage our alumni to host current students as interns, and we invite alumni to speak at our Thursday evening professional practice series. Our graduates provide a valued service in helping mentor and network with our students and the community.
Alumni profiles
Jaimie Warren ('02 printmaking) (above) is gaining national and even international recognition as a photographer, curator and performance artist. View profile. (PDF)
(Photo by James Prinz)
Nick Cave ('82 fiber) (above) recently received a $50,000 grant from United States Artists, and his Soundsuits are wowing gallery-goers throughout the United States.
View profile (PDF)
See more alumni profiles
Cat Thomas ('93 fiber), costume designer/motion pictures (PDF)
Maura Cluthe ('93 illustration), greeting cards/art director, Hallmark (PDF)
Shauna Alterio ('98 printmaking), assistant corporate display manager, Anthropologie (PDF)
Karen Gaebe ('83 design), senior art director for catalog, Crate and Barrel (PDF)
Rachel Hayes ('99 fiber), studio artist (PDF)
Greg Hull ('85 sculpture), studio artist and sculpture professor (PDF)
Matthew McClintock ('90 printmaking), Web master, Columbia College Chicago (PDF)
Laura McGrew ('90 painting), fashion designer and business owner/Tomboy Studios (PDF)
Garrett Peek ('05 design), art director (PDF)
Eric Sall ('99 painting), studio artist (PDF)
Kim White ('91 photography), technical director, Pixar (PDF)
Professional practice
The faculty serve a vital role in their students' professional development by providing technical, professional and conceptual information that is specific to each discipline.
The career services office augments the professional practice curricular content by bringing professionals to campus to give workshops and panel discussions.
Thursday evenings throughout the semester, individuals from the business community, alumni and other art-related professionals come to speak to juniors and seniors on a variety of topics. Juniors are exposed to a range of possibilities on how to use their degree after graduation.
In the fall semester of the senior year, topics focus on the legal issues and business side of being and artist.
Sample schedule (PDF)
Internships
An important component of career services at KCAI is the emphasis we place on internships. All KCAI students are encouraged to pursue an internship experience during their undergraduate education. Faculty mentors highly recommend and value these experiences, because they allow students to gain career-related work experience under the supervision of a professional working in the student's chosen field. Students can earn course credits as well.
Listings of approved internship sites are avaliable at the career services office.