Weekend program gives high school students a chance to experience college life

8 December 2010

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Dec. 8, 2010) –– This March, high school students with a passion for art can spend a weekend on the campus of the Kansas City Art Institute and get a better feel for what it would be like to be a college student. They also will have a chance to study with emerging artists who are gaining a national profile in fields such as fashion and photography. As a bonus, they can meet other students from around the region who share their passion for art.

 
All of these options are part of KCAI’s Pre-College ArtLab, a weekend intensive for high school juniors and seniors that takes place March 12-13. Students will study life drawing as well as one elective – photography, fashion or sculptural welding – during the weekend. The deadline for enrollment and a $100 deposit is Feb. 4. The cost for the entire weekend experience is $380 with lodging (materials included) or $325 without lodging (materials included). 
 

“Fashion as Art” will be taught by Peggy Noland, a Kansas City fashion designer and lecturer in KCAI’s fiber department. In 2001, Noland began her own clothing label, Peggy Noland-Kansas City. After gaining momentum wholesaling her clothing to boutiques nationwide, Noland opened her own boutique in 2006 in Kansas City’s Crossroads Arts District and another in Berlin in 2009. She has been featured in international and national magazines and websites such as WWD, Dazed and Confused, The New York Times, Elle, Nylon, Vogue, Spin, Glamour and GenArt.  Noland has outfitted band members from Fischerspooner, CSS, Tilly and the Wall and SSION.

 
“Photography: A Game Of Telephone: Narrative Photography” will be taught by Robert Chase Heishman, a writer, photographer and video artist. Heishman received his B.F.A. in photography and art history in 2008 from KCAI. He held a residency at the Charlotte Street Foundation of Kansas City, and his work is in the photography collection at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Heishman currently works and resides in Chicago, where he attends Northwestern University’s art theory and practice M.F.A. program.
 
 “Sculptural Welding” will be taught by 2008 KCAI graduate Zach Springer. He has a M.F.A. degree from Portland State University’s social practice program. He is currently an adjunct faculty member at the Kansas City Art Institute. He is an artist working in the public realm. His work with the community serves as a valuable asset to the understanding of collaboration and how that can work in everyday life. By showing people that they are inherently creative and have a voice, Springer hopes to emphasize their individual importance to their surroundings.
 

For more information or to enroll in the March program, visit www.kcai.edu/pcal or e-mail tschmidt@kcai.edu.

About the Kansas City Art Institute

The Kansas City Art Institute is a private, independent four-year college of art and design awarding the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with majors in animation, art history, ceramics, digital filmmaking, digital media, fiber, graphic design, illustration, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture and studio art with an emphasis on creative writing. KCAI hosts “Current Perspectives,” a free public lecture series; free exhibitions at the H&R Block Artspace gallery; and evening, weekend and summer classes in art, design, multimedia studies and desktop publishing for children, youth and adults. For more information, visit KCAI on the Web at www.kcai.edu.

 
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For more information, contact Anne Canfield, acanfield@kcai.edu or 816-802-3426