ARTNotes

Calendar of events

Pictured above: The finale of the "Living Art" performance by KCAI students at "Masquerade 2008: Flashback to the '60s." Photo by Shot Bee.

Please note that this is the last issue of KCAI ARTNotes for the 2007-08 academic year. The next issue will be distributed Aug. 18. To submit information or to subscribe, contact Liz Murray, communications manager, at emurray@kcai.edu or 816-802-3458.

June 2 - Summer Session I and summer foundation program begin

June 20 - Preregistration for new foundation students. Learn more.
 
June 22 - Pre-College Art Lab summer residency program for high-school students begins

June 28 - Art of the Car Concours, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the KCAI campus, a benefit for student scholarships

July 18 - Preregistration for new foundation students. Learn more.
 
Aug. 18 - KCAI ARTNotes resumes publication

Aug. 22 - Opening reception for "Kansas City Art Institute Biennial: New Faculty," 6 to 8 p.m., H&R Block Artspace

Aug. 25 - Fall semester begins

Aug. 27 - Convocation, 11 a.m., Community Christian Church, 4601 Main St.

Back to top

KCAI to offer classes north of the river

The Kansas City Art Institute is purchasing 5,000 square feet in one of six buildings in the Briarcliff Professional Plaza now under construction at the junction of Highway 9 and Briarcliff Parkway in Riverside, Mo., just north of the Missouri River. By mid-February 2009, the college expects to offer classes for children and youth not only on our midtown campus at 4415 Warwick Blvd., but also at this new KCAI-Northland site. The space will allow for four classrooms, one computer lab, a kitchen, gallery/exhibition space, a staff office and reception area.

Cost of the project is $1.2 million, toward which the developer, Briarcliff Development Company, is contributing $260,000. The college also has received $100,000 from the Sunderland Foundation and $10,000 from Paul DeBruce/DeBruce Companies. Additional fund-raising activities are under way.

"We will be able to accommodate hundreds of students in a variety of classes, ranging from fine arts to applied arts," said Shirley O'Leary, associate vice president for special programs at KCAI. "Initially, we plan to offer classes for children in first through 12th grades, and later we expect to offer classes for adults."

O'Leary said the college conducted extensive market research before settling on a Northland location and that art teachers and parents in the area had expressed tremendous interest and enthusiasm for the project.

"I can't tell you how excited they are about this news," she said. She noted that Executive Service Corps, a group of retired executives, consulted on the project and helped the college do research and conduct feasibility studies. Key consultants with ESC included Richard Benner, who lives in the Northland, and Bob Hayes.

Back to top

Seniors graduate and Nermans receive honorary doctorates at May 17 commencement

Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees were presented to 129 graduating seniors. Gary Gradinger, chairman of the KCAI board of trustees, presided, and speakers included Brett Reif, assistant professor in the School of the Foundation Year; Kari Freitag ('08 interdisciplinary arts); and Hamza Walker, director of education and associate curator of The Renaissance Society of the University of Chicago. Kelly Wieland ('08 fiber) was commissioned to design this year's commencement sash, worn by President Collins, and Garrett Fuselier ('08 graphic design) designed the commencement announcements and programs.

A standing ovation from the Class of 2008 greeted Margaret Nerman, who completed her ninth and final year as a member of the KCAI board of trustees, and her husband, Jerome Nerman, when the couple received honorary doctor of fine arts degrees during commencement ceremonies May 17 at Community Christian Church. The Nermans are longtime supporters of KCAI and founders of the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art at Johnson County Community College.

Back to top

Masquerade benefits student scholarships

More than 400 partygoers attended "Masquerade 2008: Flashback to the '60s," which took place May 3 at the Crown Center Exhibit Hall. The event was a benefit for student scholarships at KCAI. Student Nicole Christianson designed and made costumes for VIPs, including event chairs Joni and Larry Weiner; Kathleen Collins, president of KCAI; and former mayor Kay Barnes, honorary chair. Christianson is majoring in fiber and will be a senior at KCAI this fall. A highlight of the event was a fashion show and performance directed by Georgianna Londre, who teaches classes in costume design in the KCAI fiber department. Performers included numerous KCAI students.

Back to top

Three sculpture students win A. Zahner awards

Proposals from sculpture students Anna Buckthorpe, Jordan Johnson and Joey Grimm have been selected as winners in the biennial A. Zahner sculpture competition. The company, whose CEO, Bill Zahner, serves on the KCAI board of trustees, will fabricate one design by each of the three students for exhibition and sale at the Art Institute's 2009 Art & Design Auction. A date for the auction has yet to be determined. Proceeds benefit the college's student scholarship fund. "Their presentations were professional and to the point," said Michael Wickerson, sculpture chair at KCAI. "I want to thank the Zahner firm for making this scholarship-raising competition so visible and beneficial to the KCAI community at large."

Back to top

World mourns death of Robert Rauschenberg, who studied at KCAI

Robert Rauschenberg, 82, who studied at KCAI during the 1947-48 academic year as a freshman majoring in fashion design (the photo above shows one of his 1948 designs), died May 12 at his home on Captiva Island, Fla. Born Milton Rauschenberg in 1925 in Port Arthur, Texas, Rauschenberg served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and enrolled at KCAI on the G.I. Bill. Biographers have written about how he changed his name to Robert ("Bob") in 1947 in a bus station in Kansas City, after making up his mind that he would respond to the first person who asked him his name by saying "Bob," and if that person believed him, it would be Bob from then on. The story goes that the first person to ask was the registrar at KCAI, who didn't question the name. Rauschenberg went on to study with Josef Albers at Black Mountain College in North Carolina and at the Art Students League in New York. Art historians have noted that his paintings in the early 1950s comprised a series of all-white and all-black surfaces underlain with wrinkled newspaper, while in later works he began making art from what others would consider junk - old soda bottles, traffic barricades and stuffed birds - calling them "combine" paintings.

Back to top

Media Center wins Jolly Turtle award for student-friendly service

Student Assembly representatives paraded into the East Building on May 12 to present the Jolly Turtle award to Aldo Bacchetta, director of the college's media center, and Sheila Partridge, assistant director. Leila Hybl, student assembly president, said students were asked on April 9, during a student forum, to vote for their "favorite, kindest, most helpful department." This is the first year the media center has won. The trophy - a statuette of a bowler encased in a turtle shell - will reside in the media center for a year.

Also on May 12, student assembly officers were elected for 2008-09: Kaleen Person, president; Q. Mark Adams, vice president; Alicia Score, treasurer; Joe Fuller and Rachel Roxon, secretary; and Dustin Mayberry, communications.

Back to top

Sculptures by KCAI students featured on Fox 4 news

Sculptures by KCAI students and alumni were spotlighted May 16 during evening newscasts on WDAF-TV (Fox 4). "The city of Roeland Park has created a kind of drive-through museum," the television reporter noted. "Sculptures are dispersed along city medians in a program called Art in R Park. The parks department wanted to boost the city's image. It held a contest asking local artists to create sculptures to decorate Roe Boulevard. Eight pieces were chosen - many by students at the Kansas City Art Institute." See the video.

Back to top

KCAI alumni among “Inspiration” grant winners

The Arts Council of Metropolitan Kansas City recently announced the names of artists who will receive first round 2008 ArtsKC Fund "Inspiration" grants. They include former KCAI student Peregrine Honig, who received a $1,000 grant to help pay expenses to attend the Art Omi summer residency program in Ghent, N.Y.; Dylan Mortimer ('02 painting), who received $1,000 toward a November-December 2008 exhibition, "Ble$$ed," at the Leedy-Voulkos Art Center; Jaimie Warren ('02 printmaking), research/project assistant at the H&R Block Artspace at KCAI, who received $2,500 to help fund additional episodes of "Whoop Dee Do" and a Web site to promote it; Stanton Fernald ('95 design), who received $800 to purchase new materials to experiment with creating various effects; and Brendan Meara ('04 new media), who received $500 to purchase a digital piano. Learn more about the ArtsKC Fund and Inspiration grant recipients.

Back to top

Faculty updates

"The Queen's Suite," an exhibition of digital photography by Gary Sutton, professor of photography at KCAI, continues through June 30 at the Jan Weiner gallery, 4800 Liberty St., Kansas City, Mo. A gallery talk is set for 7 p.m. May 27, and a reception is planned for 5 to 8 p.m. June 6. For details, call 816-931-8755. Read The Kansas City Star review.

Hugh Merrill, printmaker and professor at the Kansas City Art Institute, has an exhibition of drawings on view during May and June at the Leedy-Voulkos Art Center. The show is entitled "Ecoscape." Merrill was guest curator and worked with Nelson-Atkins Chief Curator Deborah Emont Scott on "Print Lovers at 30: Celebrating Three Decades of Giving," an exhibition that continues through July 20 at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. The exhibition honors the Nelson-Atkins Print Society's 30th anniversary and features 31 of the 79 prints donated by that group or its members. The exhibition also acknowledges the role played by the late George McKenna, print curator at the museum, whose career there spanned 45 years, from 1952 to 1997. An exhibition catalog is for sale at the museum's gift shop.

"Music is the vehicle to other worlds, other tongues and other flesh," say Dr. Thomas Aber and the Rev. Dwight Frizzell, assistant professor of photography and digital filmmaking at KCAI, who will use instrumental sound as "Mythic Pathways" during what they describe as a concert-ritual set for 7 p.m. May 29 at Aquarius, 3936 Broadway, Kansas City, Mo. Featured instruments include Eb sopranino clarinet, Bb clarinets, contra-alto clarinet, tenor sax, baritone sax, Native flutes, gaida, zwooms and wind wand. $10 donation requested. Parking in rear; performance upstairs. For more information, contact Frizzell or Abert or call Aquarius at 816-931-6303.

Back to top

Anthropologie going green for art

From 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. July 30, Anthropologie on the Country Club Plaza will host an event called "Going Green for the HeART of It," featuring work by local artists using recycled materials in conjunction with their choice of other media (oil paint, water color, etc.). The work will be available for purchase; five percent of the proceeds will be donated to the Kansas City Art Institute, and the rest will go to the exhibiting artists. "They picked us to donate since it's an art-related event," said Tara Clevenger, a staff member in the KCAI advancement office. "There are other ties to the Art Institute, too. Three of our students currently work there - Kaylee Fitzgibbons, Katie Novotny and Amy Compton - and I know others have in the past." At the corporate level, Shauna Alterio ('98 printmaking), is the retailer's corporate display manager. For details, contact Stephanie Moore, senior store manager, at 816-531-4429.

Back to top

Circus music inspires “Bottom of the Big Top”

Artist Nate Fors will perform May 22-24 in "Bottom of the Big Top," as part of a multi-media event that will take place at the H&R Block City Stage Theater at Union Station, 30 W. Pershing, Kansas City, Mo. For details about the performances, including show times, visit www.owencoxdance.org, and to order tickets online visit www.unionstation.org.

Back to top

May 29 reception marks opening of group show at Philomene Studio

The 2008 art show of the Philomene Studio Group opens May 29 with a reception from 5:30 to 9 p.m. at the studio, 1331 Union St., in the West Bottoms area of Kansas City. The exhibition also will be open from 5:30 to 9 p.m. May 30 and noon to 4 p.m. May 31, featuring work by more than 25 local artists in diverse styles and media. The event is open to the public, and the artwork will be for sale.

"For many years, Philomene Bennett has conducted a salon-style studio experience for artists," said artist Holly Miller in promoting the exhibition. "This is not a class situation per se, where artists learn specific techniques demonstrated by a teacher (i.e. how to paint sunsets), but rather an encouraging and creative environment in which artists pursue their own muse, personal styles, concepts and media with support from Ms. Bennett, who serves as a mentor with her kind demeanor, gentle humor and vast experience in the visual arts."

Back to top

Pecha Kucha comes to Bar Natasha June 10 – opportunity to present or to watch

It sounds sort of like visual karaoke, involving presentations of 20 slides that advance automatically every 20 seconds, whether the presenter is ready or not, and it's coming to Kansas City June 10 at Bar Natasha, 1911 Main St. Doors open at 7:30 p.m., and presentations start at 8:20 p.m. The event is free, but reservations are requested (816-472-5300). Here is Bar Natasha's description: "Pecha Kucha (Japanese for 'chit chat') is a casual gathering of artists, architects and other creative people having a drink and sharing their ideas and latest projects. It's also a presentation format with 20 slides that advance automatically every 20 seconds - if the presenter is ready or not. Each presentation lasts only 6 minutes and 40 seconds, keeping the presenters and the audience on their toes, with up to 14 presenters in one night (with a beer break in the middle, of course). This event was started by Klein/Dytham Architects in Japan and has spread across the globe, now in more than 100 cities on six continents." For more information, visit www.pecha-kucha.org. To sign up as a presenter, e-mail pkn@monstersofdesign.com.

Back to top

Shakespeare Festival opens June 17 with “Othello”

Southmoreland Park, located just south of the KCAI campus, will once again be the setting for the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival, which is celebrating its 16th season. "Othello" opens June 17, with show times at 8 p.m. nightly except Monday, June 23, and Friday, July 4. For details, visit http://www.kcshakes.org/.

Back to top

Calls for artists

Deadline May 30 - Entries are invited for an "Art in the District" project in Kansas City Power & Light District. Assisting with the project is SD2 Consulting, a Kansas City-based tech and media company founded earlier this year. Winning entries will be exhibited throughout the eight-block entertainment district. By juried selection, up to 20 entries will be chosen for exhibition. Images will be printed in color on vinyl banners and displayed on poles along the streets. New-media submissions will be displayed on the KC Live! video screen. Artists whose work is selected for reproduction on the banners will share a $1,500 purse, following a public vote. All media will be considered. For additional information, send an e-mail to artists@sd2consulting.com.

Deadline July 15 - The Public Art Committee of Sedalia, Mo., invites artists to submit sculpture for display for one year in the community as part of Sedalia's Fourth Annual Sculpture in the Park program. Eight sculptures will be selected for exhibition Sept. 1, 2008, through July 31, 2009. Submit entries to the Sedalia Heritage Foundation, c/o SITP, 600 E. Third, Sedalia, MO 65301. Artists are asked to provide name, address, e-mail address and a daytime phone number; a brief interpretation of the piece, including medium, title, dimensions, digital photos and sale price if the piece is for sale; and a brief biography. Each artist may submit up to three pieces for consideration. Preference will be given to large-scale works. For more information, contact Carolyn Crooker, 660-826-2932, ext. 12, or ccrooker@visitsedaliamo.com.

Deadline July 15 - Aakriti Art Gallery in Kolkuta is calling for artists for an exhibition entitled "Gen Next III." If you are an aspiring contemporary artist, under 40 years of age, and wish to participate in the next show, you may send a CD containing your recent works along with your detailed profile / resume, to Gen Next III, Aakriti Art Gallery, 1st Floor Orbit Enclave, 12/3A Hungerford St., Back Gate of St. Xaviers College, Kolkata - 700017, India. For more information, visit http://www.absolutearts.com/artsnews/2008/05/15/35018.html.

Back to top

Classifieds

Garden-loving student wanted to create a sculpture from a topped-off tree in local resident's backyard at her north Overland Park-Mission area home, possibly a chain-saw sculpture or a totem pole. If interested, please call 913-963-5573 or e-mail dianevan75@hotmail.com.

Truman Art Curator (deadline to apply: May 30): The Truman Art Curator is responsible for choosing and acquiring the pieces of art to be shown in any TMC facility. The art curator also decides how the pieces should be displayed and the order in which they appear, and develops an annual calendar for art displays in all effected facilities. The curator selects works for permanent display as well as works for special temporary exhibitions. Sometimes the curator will organize educational and public outreach programs such as tours, workshops, receptions and lectures to publicize the hospital's displays. If interested in the full description, please e-mail emurray@kcai.edu or call 816-802-3458.

Back to top

Exhibitions at local galleries and museums

Arts Incubator - "Cultivated Texture," an exhibition of work by Stephanie Miller ('08 fiber), will be on view through May 31 at the Arts Incubator Gallery, 113 W. 18th St., Kansas City, Mo. The exhibition explores the possibilities of texture through handmade paper and natural materials and includes hanging relief sculptures and found objects relating to agriculture and the domestic, as well as to the process of uprooting and the emotional attachment created between self and place. The gallery is open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays or by appointment. For more information, call 816-588-1850.

Belger Arts Center - "Collective 08," an exhibition of degree projects by 16 KCAI graphic design seniors (2008 graduates), continues through June 6 on the first floor of the Belger Arts Center, 2100 Walnut St. The exhibition features work by Ryan Baker, Aimee Brodbeck, Ashley Carter, Callie England, Garrett Fuselier, Tina Gordzica, Kendall Hanson, Dean Johnson, Matt Judge, Tyson Moyer, Andrea Rodriguez, Justin Ruggieri, Lindsey Southwood, Matt Takach, Tyler Tate and Rhianna Weilert. Other exhibits on view include "Terry Winters: Works from the John and Maxine Belger Family Foundation" and "Creighton Michael: Cursive." Both shows continue through June 6. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday-Friday, noon to 4 p.m. Saturday and by appointment. For more information visit http://www.belgerartscenter.org or contact Gallery Assistant Mo Dickens at 816-474-3250 or mdickens@belgerartscenter.org.

Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art - "Where Else," an exhibition of work by Julia Oschatz, will be on display through July 6. Oschatz's room-size installations, comprising paintings, drawings and videos housed in cardboard constructions, chart the eternal odyssey of a fictitious protagonist in the German artist's ongoing narrative. Part animal, part human, this wayward being stars in short, looping videos that blend performance, animation and painted imagery and in muted, enigmatic landscape paintings. The Kemper Museum is located at 4420 Warwick Blvd. For more information call 816-753-5784 or visit http://www.kemperart.org.

Leedy-Voulkos Art Center - A reception is planned for 6 to 9 p.m. June 6 for exhibitions that will continue at the Art Center through July 26. They include: David Meyers from Delaware, Maine, with a sculpture installation in the main gallery; Jessica Wohl from Kansas City, with a mixed media installation in the Back Room gallery; John Kaiser, a self-taught painter from Kansas City, in the Opie gallery; Hugh Merrill, printmaker and KCAI faculty member, with new drawings in the Front Room gallery; Tara Whooler, a KCAI graduating senior with a thesis sculpture exhibition in the Front Room gallery; Shawn Bitters from Lawrence, Kan., with an encore exhibition in the Front Room gallery (Bitters had a solo exhibition in the Back Room gallery in April); and Brian Nyanhongo from Zimbawe, South Africa, stone sculpture, in conjunction with the Chapungu Great African Sculpture exhibition at Powell Gardens. (Nyanhongo was the Leedy-Voulkos Art Center's artist in residence in May). His stone-carving students also will be showing their finished works in the Front Room gallery during the June 6 "First Friday" opening. The Leedy-Voulkos Art Center is located at 2012 Baltimore, Kansas City, Mo.

Locust Street Gallery - "Madkat," showcasing work by Madeline Smith ('08 fiber), continues through May 29 at the Locust Street Gallery, 1605 Locust St., Kansas City, Mo. The solo exhibition features hand-woven textiles created with the traditional Japanese technique Ikat, an ancient resist dyeing technique in which threads are wrapped to prevent dye exposure. The technique creates a feathered effect. Its usage dates back to the early first century, and it has been commonly used in kimono or futon textiles. Smith uses this blurred effect to mimic the look of computer-game characters, merging ancient craft with contemporary content. Though these graphics have personal meaning to the artist, they are recognizable figures reminiscent of the childhood of many young adults, presented in a creative form.

Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art - "In the Public Eye: Photography and Fame" continues through June 15, featuring some of the most recognizable works in photographic history, by some of the most celebrated photographers. Thematically, the exhibition explores the relationship between photography and celebrity and the collaborative nature of this process: the willing role of celebrities in creating their public image. A broad range of works from the 1860s to the present will be on view, by photographers such as Mathew Brady, Edward Steichen, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Imogen Cunningham, Irving Penn, Richard Avedon, Arnold Newman, Andy Warhol and Annie Leibovitz. The museum offers other exhibitions as well. For more information about this exhibit or others, visit http://www.nelson-atkins.org.

Review Studios Exhibition Space - "The Jesus Show," an exhibition of work by Colby K. Smith, continues through June 23 in Suite 2 at Review Studios, 1708 Campbell, Kansas City, Mo. For an appointment to view the exhibition, call 816-916-0620. The entrance is on the east side of the building. Also at Review Studios: "A part," an exhibition of new work by Marcie Miller Gross, special instructor in the KCAI fiber department, continues through June 13. In "a part," the artist reinterprets the relationship of body, object and abstraction. Using recycled wool sweaters, she creates site-responsive installations and sculptural objects. Working with an inventory of parts consisting of pliable planes and seams, she uses shifting systems of order to create a new set of associations. Miller Gross is one of 13 artists selected to participate in Review Studios, where she is in her third year. She has been a special instructor and visiting critic in the fiber and sculpture departments at the Kansas City Art Institute since 1997. She received her M.F.A. degree from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1990 and holds a B.F.A. degree from the University of Kansas.

Unit 5 Gallery - "Reactionary: Abstract Textile Surfaces," an exhibition of work by Kelly Anne Wieland ('08 fiber), continues through May 30 at Unit 5 Gallery, 1920 Wyandotte St., Kansas City, Mo. "Reactionary displays surfaces that rouse investigation," the artist wrote. "Dynamic linework and color interactions create forces that maintain space and hold conversations." For additional details, contact the gallery at 816-841-5500 or unit5gallery@gmail.com or visit http://www.unit5gallery.com.

The Writer's Place - "Wind/Mind," an exhibition of work by Robert Chase Heishman ('08 photography and art history), will be on display through June 27 at The Writer's Place, 3607 Pennsylvania, Kansas City, Mo.

To subscribe to KCAI ARTNotes, e-mail Liz Murray and include "Subscribe to KCAI ARTNotes" in the subject line.

Kansas City Art Institute
4415 Warwick Blvd.
Kansas City, MO 64111-1820
816-472-4852
www.kcai.edu  

Back to top