The first of the spring visiting artist lecture series, “Current Perspectives.” Art Practical is a new and ambitious platform for chronicling contemporary art and visual culture in the San Francisco Bay Area. Their appearance at KCAI is a partnership between KCAI and the Rocket Grants program, which is a collaboration between the Charlotte Street Foundation and the Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas, with funding from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Read more.

Summer 2012: South America - "Art on the Edge of Politics - Bolivia, Peru, Machu Picchu, and Galápagos "

7 p.m.

Vanderslice Hall reception rooms

Hal Wert and Carl Kurtz will be leading a presentation about the faculty-led travel program to South America. The trip includes visits to the countries of Bolivia, Peru, Machu Picchu and the Galápagos Islands. Dr. Wert says, "IN YOUR HEART YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO GO!" Read more.

The Northland Art League Exhibition opens today with a reception from 5 to 8 p.m. at KCAI's North campus in Riverside, Mo.

Contact: 816-802-3505

Today marks the start of spring classes offered by our School of Continuing and Professional Studies. For details, visit www.kcai.edu/cps or call 816-802-3505.

Black History Month weekly brown bag lecture series

Noon to 1 p.m.

Vanderslice Hall reception room

KCAI's Black History Month weekly brown bag lunch speaker series kicks off with a presentation by Dorthea Williams, Ph.D., executive director of Black Archives of Mid-America (BAMA). Dr. Williams holds a doctorate in American studies from the University of Kansas in Lawrence. Her dissertation, “Kansas Grows the Best Wheat and the Best Race Women: Black Women’s Club Movement in Kansas 1900-1930,” contains research that explores the importance of preserving the histories of African Americans in the Midwest and Central Plains. Her research underscores the narratives of black migration, community development, entrepreneurial gains, the spirit of ingenuity and the hope invested in new land. Williams is a native of Topeka, Kan.

The following members of the KCAI faculty will discuss projects associated with recent grants: Milton Katz, Ph.D., professor of American studies, art, literature and film of the Holocaust and peace and conflict resolution; Michele Fricke, professor and program head of art history; George Timock, professor of ceramics; Cyan Meeks, special assistant professor and video artist, independent filmmaker, community organizer, curator and published media theorist; Phyllis Moore, Ph.D., director of the School of Liberal Arts, program head of KCAI’s creative writing program and coordinator (with Dr. Reed Anderson) of the college’s Paris Study Abroad Program, and Tracy Krumm, assistant professor of fiber, who specializes in textile structures and material studies.

“On Watch” opening reception

6 to 8 p.m.

H&R Block Artspace at the Kansas City Art Institute
16 E. 43rd St.

The exhibition explores strategies of surveillance in contemporary art and culture in the works of five international artists and a pioneering open source project team.

The artists in “On Watch” employ a range of methodologies and technologies, ranging from border patrol, mobile phones, street level surveillance, aerial reconnaissance photography, sousveillance, satellite imagery, GPS and global mapping and social media. The show is on view through March 31.

artspace@kcai.edu

816-561-5563

Electromediascope:“Before Tomorrow,” by Marie-Hélène Cousineau
7 to 9 p.m.
Atkins Auditorium at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

Electromediascope will present the first screening of its spring program, “Alien Contact and Cultural Imagination.” The last of the Inuit written, produced and acted Fast Runner Trilogy, “Before Tomorrow,” by Marie-Hélène Cousineau, in collaboration with Madeline Ivalu and Susan Avingaq, will be shown. The theme for this springs series is described as a meeting of myth and storytelling of third-world cultures, and the science fiction, technology and cinematic subcultures of the developed world. The series is presented by Gwen Widmer and Patrick Clancy. Screenings are free but reservations are required. Make a reservation.

Black History Month weekly brown bag lecture series

Noon to 1 p.m.

Vanderslice Hall reception room

This week's brown bag lunch speaker series features “Turbulence, Perspective & Opportunity: An Investor’s Guide,” a presentation by David Jackson, CFP, CMFC. Jackson has been a certified financial planner practitioner and financial advisor for Waddell & Reed for more than 16 years. Jackson has been featured on local and national media outlets seeking his financial expertise and is a regular contributor for NBC Action News’s “Call for Action.”  Jackson has hosted a financial radio talk show and is a frequent contributor to the Kansas City Call, providing financial tips in the column, “Financial Matters.”

ArtSounds presents "Absence and Presence"

7:30 p.m.

Epperson Auditorium
Vanderslice Hall
4415 Warwick Blvd.

Using keepsake objects as a gateway to relationships, "Absence and Presence" explores the existence or non-presence of a thing as a means for communication about the human condition. The absence and presence of a thing will initiate, interrupt, and alter video and audio in a performance environment that is augmented by audience interaction. 

The performance is a collaboration by David Steele Overholt, tyler galloway, and Andrew Seager Cole.

Free and open to the public.

David B. Levy, a director, writer and animator who balances industry work with independent projects, will speak at 7 p.m. tonight in Epperson Auditorium, which is located in Vanderslice Hall. This event is free and open to the public.

Levy has directed animated TV series and pilots for Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, Scholastic, Disney, Sesame Workshop, National Geographic and the Fox Broadcasting Company. As a writer, Levy has been engaged by major companies such as Garan Inc., Kidville and Classic Media to create animated projects based on existing properties and by Disney, which optioned one of his original creations. As an author, Levy has penned the three essential books on the animation business: "Your Career in Animation," "Animation Development" and "Directing Animation." He also is the co-author of the upcoming "Independently Animated: Bill Plympton" (2011), published by Rizzoli Press. “Grandpa Looked Like William Powell” is his sixth indie animated short film.

http://animondays.blogspot.com/

Reservations are required for these sessions and may be made by calling the KCAI admissions office toll free at 800-522-5224 or locally at 816-474-5224 from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday or by e-mailing visit@kcai.edu. Let us know how many are in your party, what city you live in and what school you are presently attending. Also let us know if you are bringing your portfolio.

Electromediascope: works by Isaac Julien and Cauleen Smith
7 to 9 p.m.
Atkins Auditorium at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

Electromediascope continues its spring program, “Alien Contact and Cultural Imagination.” Isaac Julien's "Baltimore" will be shown along with four works by Cauleen Smith: “The Changing Same,” “Dark Matter 1,” “The Green Dress,” and “The Fullness of Time.” The series is presented by Gwen Widmer and Patrick Clancy. Screenings are free but reservations are required. Make a reservation.

Black History Month weekly brown bag lecture series

Noon to 1 p.m.

Vanderslice Hall reception room

KCAI concludes its Black History Month brown bag lunch speaker series with “Sarah Rector: Kansas City’s First Black Millionnaire,” a presentation by Geri Sanders. Sanders is an administrative assistant in the president’s office at the KCAI and teaches African American and American history at Penn Valley Community College. Sanders will tell the story of Sarah Rector, a black woman who received an oil-rich land allotment from the Creek Indian Nation that resulted in the acquisition of millions of dollars. Sanders has presented her research on Kansas City’s first black millionaire across the country. She consulted on Homer B. Roberts: An Extraordinary Man (2002), a book by Rusty Restuccia and Elvis “Sonny” Gibson, which includes a chapter about Sarah Rector, and is currently consulting on a children’s book being written about Rector’s childhood. Sanders is also currently working on a biography about the life of Ms. Rector.

Clifford Owens is a key figure in contemporary performance art. His current project, “Clifford Owens: Anthology,” at MoMA PS1, includes photography, video, performance scores and live performances of works he solicited from a multigenerational group of African-American artists. Born and raised in Baltimore, he now lives and works in Queens in New York. Read more.

Electromediascope: Cauleen Smith presenting work
7 to 9 p.m.
Atkins Auditorium at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

Electromediascope continues its spring program, “Alien Contact and Cultural Imagination” with a presentation by and discussion with Cauleen Smith. Smith will be showing her new work, including “Remote Viewing and Other Ways of Seeing,” a series of films re-enacting Land Art. “The Grid: Process Sculpture Film #2,” “The Vanishing” and “The Solar Flare Arkestral Marching Band Project” will be shown. The series is presented by Gwen Widmer and Patrick Clancy. Screenings are free but reservations are required. Make a reservation.