The Kansas City Art Institute (KCAI) is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

art school An art school is an educational institution with a primary focus on the visual arts, including fine art – especially illustration, painting, photography, sculpture, and graphic design. Art schools can offer elementary, secondary, post-second ...

in Kansas City, Missouri. The college was founded in 1885 and is an accredited by the

National Association of Schools of Art and Design The National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD), founded in 1944, is an accrediting organization of colleges, schools and universities in the United States. The organization establishes standards for graduate and undergraduate degrees ...

and

Higher Learning Commission The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) is an institutional accreditor in the United States. It has historically accredited post-secondary education institutions in the central United States: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa ...

. It has approximately 75 faculty members and 700 students. KCAI offers the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.

History

The school started in 1885 when art enthusiasts formed the "Sketch Club" with the purpose of "talking over art matters in general and to judge pictures." Meetings were originally in private homes and then moved to the Deardorf Building at 11th and Main in downtown Kansas City. The club had its first exhibition in 1887 and 12 benefactors stepped forward to form the ''Kansas City Art Association and School of Design.'' In 1927 Howard Vanderslice purchased the August R. Meyer residence, a Germanic castle entitled

Marburg Marburg ( or ) is a university town in the German federal state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district (''Landkreis''). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has a population of approxima ...

and its estate at 44th and Warwick Boulevard adjacent to the planned

Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is an art museum in Kansas City, Missouri, known for its encyclopedic collection of art from nearly every continent and culture, and especially for its extensive collection of Asian art. In 2007, ''Time'' magaz ...

. A

Wight and Wight Wight and Wight, known also as Wight & Wight, was an architecture firm in Kansas City, Missouri consisting of the brothers Thomas Wight (September 17, 1874 – October 6, 1949) and William Wight (January 22, 1882 – October 29, 1947) who d ...

addition was added to the building. The residence was later renamed "Vanderslice Hall" and is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

along with another building on the campus—Mineral Hall. The campus has since expanded to . In 1935 painter Thomas Hart Benton left

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

to teach at the school. Among the artists Benton influenced as a teacher at KCAI were Frederic James, Margot Peet, Jackson Lee Nesbitt, Roger Medearis,

Glenn Gant Glenn Gant (1911–1999) was a painter who was best known for his Regionalist and American Scene paintings. Gant was born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1911. He began his art career at the Kansas City Art Institute in 1930, and he studied under ...

, and Delmer J. Yoakum. Though Benton brought attention to the Art Institute, he was dismissed in 1941 after making disparaging references to, as he claimed, the excessive influence of homosexuals in the art world. In 1992 the

Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art opened in 1994 in Kansas City, Missouri. With a $5 million annual budget and approximately 75,000 visitors each year, it is Missouri's first and largest contemporary museum. Founders The core of the museum's perm ...

opened on the west side of the campus. On the occasion of its 130th anniversary in 2015, the Kansas City Art Institute received an anonymous donation of $25 million, one of the largest gifts ever to an American art school. The money will be used to bolster the school's general endowment, improve and renovate its campus adjacent to the

and, in the form of a challenge grant of $6 million, sharply increase the number of scholarships the school is able to give out.Randy Kennedy (August 18, 2015)
Kansas City Art Institute Receives $25 Million Donation
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''.

Notable faculty

* Thomas Hart Benton – Leader of Regionalist art movement; KCAI professor, (1935–1941) *

Anne Boyer Anne Boyer (born 1973) is an American poet and essayist. She is the author of ''The Romance of Happy Workers'' (2008), ''The 2000s'' (2009), ''My Common Heart'' (2011), '' Garments Against Women'' (2015), and ''The Handbook of Disappointed Fate'' ( ...

– Pulitzer Prize Winning Author and Poet *

Harold Bruder Harold Jacob Bruder (born August 31, 1930) is an American realist painter. In 1984, he was honored with a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship. He is a former professor of art, working with the Kansas City Art Institute, Pratt Institute, N ...

– Painter (1963–1965) *

Christiane Cegavske Christiane Cegavske (born October 29, 1971) is an American artist and stop motion animator. She is primarily known for her animated film ''Blood Tea and Red String'' and for having done the animated segments to the film ''The Heart Is Deceitful ...

- Guggenheim Fellow in 2019 *

John de Martelly John Stockton de Martelly (1903–1979) was a lithographer, etcher, painter, illustrator, teacher and writer. Early life John de Martelly was born in 1903 in Philadelphia and studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, in Florence, Italy ...

– Regionalist Printmaker, (1934–1941) * Jill Downen (‘89 Painting) - Guggenheim Fellow in 2010 *

Dale Eldred Dale Eldred (November 9, 1933 in Minneapolis, Minnesota – July 26, 1993 in Kansas City, Missouri) was an internationally acclaimed sculptor renowned for large-scale sculptures that emphasized both natural and generated light. Biography Th ...

– Sculptor, Environmentalist; Professor and Chair of Sculpture at KCAI (1959–1993) * Cary Esser (‘78 Ceramics) – Ceramicist, and Professor and Chair of Ceramics at KCAI * Ken Ferguson – Ceramicist, KCAI Professor Emeritus, (1964–1996) *

– Regionalist painter, KCAI alumni and student of Benton, KCAI teacher, (1948–1960) * Frederic James – Watercolor Painter, KCAI teacher, (1940–1950) *

Rob Roy Kelly Rob Roy Kelly (March 15, 1925 – January 23, 2004) was a design educator who established multiple design programs in the formative years of graphic design education at art schools and universities. Known as a collector and scholar of wood type, ...

- Graphic Designer and Printmaker, Chair of the Graphic Design Department (1964–1972) * Cyan Meeks – Filmmaker and Video Artist *

Victor Papanek Victor Josef Papanek (22 November 1923 – 10 January 1998) was an Austrian-born American designer and educator, who became a strong advocate of the socially and ecologically responsible design of products, tools, and community infrastructures ...

–

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

(United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization) Designer/Mediator; Author; Chair of Graphic Design Department (1976–1980) * John Douglas Patrick – Painter, Draughtsman, KCAI teacher circa 1909–1936, member French Salon 1886–1889, Earned Bronze Medal 1889 Universal Exposition * Stephen Sidelinger – Professor of Design (1972–1989)

Notable lecturers

Elaine de Kooning Elaine Marie Catherine de Kooning (, née Fried; March 12, 1918 – February 1, 1989) was an Abstract Expressionist and Figurative Expressionist painter in the post-World War II era. She wrote extensively on the art of the period and was an edit ...

– Painter, Visiting Critic (Feb 12-March 7, 1965)

Notable alumni

R. H. Barlow Robert Hayward Barlow (May 18, 1918 – January 1 or 2, 1951Joshi & Schultz (2007): p. xx.) was an American author, avant-garde poet, anthropologist and historian of early Mexico, and expert in the Nahuatl language. He was a correspondent and f ...

(Attended 1938)– author, anthropologist * Eric Bransby (1942 Painting) – muralist, painter * Mary Ann Bransby (1943) – painter, sculptor, jewelry maker, ceramicist * Paul Briggs (1996 Illustration) – animator and storyboard artist for Walt Disney Animation Studios *

Ellen Carey Ellen Carey (born 1952) is an American artist known for conceptual photography exploring non-traditional approaches involving process, exposure, and paper.Ollman, Leah ''Los Angeles Times'', April 10, 2017. Retrieved June 13, 2019.Zimmer, William ...

(1974 Printmaking) – photographer and professor * Nick Cave ('82 Fiber) – performance artist *

Dan Christensen Dan Christensen, (October 6, 1942 – January 20, 2007) was an American abstract painter He is best known for paintings that relate to Lyrical Abstraction, Color field painting, and Abstract expressionism. Christensen was born in Cozad ...

(1964 Painting) – painter * James Claussen (1975 Painting) – lithographer *

Richard Corben Richard Corben (October 1, 1940December 2, 2020) was an American illustrator and comic book artist best known for his comics featured in '' Heavy Metal'' magazine, especially the ''Den'' series which was featured in the magazine's first film ada ...

(1962 Design) – comic book creator *

John Steuart Curry John Steuart Curry (November 14, 1897 – August 29, 1946) was an American painter whose career spanned the years from 1924 until his death. He was noted for his paintings depicting rural life in his home state, Kansas. Along with Thomas Hart B ...

(Attended 1914) – painter * Marc Davis – (attended 1927) animator, Imagineer at Disney * Marisol Deluna (1989 Fiber) – fashion designer *

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

– animator, media entrepreneur, (attended Saturday classes as a child) received honorary degree from KCAI * Karon Doherty (1979 Ceramics) – ceramicist * Angela Dufresne (1991 Painting) – painter *

Ellen Fullman Ellen Fullman (born 1957) is an American composer, instrument builder, and performer. She was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and is currently based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is known for her 70-foot (21-meter) Long String instrument, tu ...

(1979 Sculpture) – inventor of

Long-String instrument The long-string instrument is a musical instrument in which the string is of such a length that the fundamental transverse wave is below what a person can hear as a tone (±20 Hz). If the tension and the length result in sounds with such ...

* Sherron Francis (1963 Painting) - painter *

April Greiman April Greiman (born March 22, 1948) is an American designer widely recognized as one of the first designers to embrace computer technology as a design tool. Greiman is also credited, along with early collaborator Jayme Odgers, with helping to i ...

(1970 Graphic Design) – graphic designer, known for bringing the New Wave design style to America *

Amelia Ishmael Amelia Ishmael is an artist, curator, music journalist, scholar, and lecturer specializing in black metal Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, a shrieking vocal style, heavily disto ...

(2004, Photography, Art History) – artist, art critic, curator, black metal specialist * Jay Jackson (1975 Photo/Video) – animator for Walt Disney Animation Studios * Paul Jenkins –

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

(attended classes as a child) * Christian Holstad (1994 Ceramics) – conceptual artist *

Peregrine Honig Peregrine Honig (born 1976 in San Francisco, CA) is an American artist whose work is concerned with the relationship between pop culture, sexual vulnerability, social anxieties, the ethics of luxury and trends in consumerism. Honig appeared o ...

(2019 Painting) – artist and entrepreneur *

Dennis Hopper Dennis Lee Hopper (May 17, 1936 – May 29, 2010) was an American actor, filmmaker and photographer. He attended the Actors Studio, made his first television appearance in 1954, and soon after appeared in ''Giant'' (1956). In the next ten years ...

– actor, attended Saturday classes during high school * Suzanne Klotz (1964 Painting) – painter, sculptor *

Barry Kooser Barry R. Kooser is an American artist, painter, and educator who worked at Walt Disney Feature Animation Studios between 1992 and 2003 as a background artist on films such as ''The Lion King'', ''Pocahontas'', '' Mulan'', ''Lilo & Stitch'', and ...

(1991 Illustration) – artist, painter, animation filmmaker, background artist for Walt Disney Animation Studios * Arthur Kraft (attended 1952) – sculptor and painter * Frank S. Land (attended c. 1909), former Imperial Potentate of the Shriners, founder of the Order of DeMolay *

Ronnie Landfield Ronnie Landfield (born January 9, 1947) is an American abstract painter. During his early career from the mid-1960s through the 1970s his paintings were associated with Lyrical Abstraction (related to Postminimalism, Color Field painting, an ...

(1963 Painting) – abstract painter *

Doris Lee Doris Emrick Lee (February 1, 1905 – June 16, 1983) was an American painter known for her figurative painting and printmaking. She won the Logan Medal of the Arts from the Chicago Art Institute in 1935. She is known as one of the most successf ...

(1925 Painting) – Depression-era figurative painter * Roberto Lugo (2012 Ceramics) – potter and educator *

Jim Mahfood Jim Mahfood (born March 29, 1975), a.k.a. Food One, is an American comic book creator. Apart from his creator-owned comic book series ''Grrl Scouts'' and his comic strip ''Stupid Comics'' (which appears weekly in the ''Phoenix New Times'') he al ...

(1997 Illustration)– comic book and graffiti artist * Duard Marshall (1940 Painting) - Painter, lithographer, art restorer *

Christina McPhee Christina McPhee (born 1954, Los Angeles, California) is an American painter, new media and video artist. She lives on California's central coast and San Francisco, CA. Art Christina McPhee works in drawing as a core practice, developing layer ...

(‘76 Painting) – new media artist * Roger Medearis (attended 1938-1941) – Regionalist painter, student of Thomas Hart Benton * Cyan Meeks (1995 New Media) – video artist and filmmaker * Robert Morris (attended) – sculptor, performance and installation artist * Jackson Lee Nesbitt (attended) – artist known for regionalist etchings and lithographs, student of Benton * William F. Nolan (attended) – screenwriter, original Twilight Zone co-author *

Theo Parrish Theo Parrish (born 1972) is an American DJ and record producer based in Detroit, Michigan, and known for his genre-spanning DJ sets and unconventional house productions. He is an owner of the Sound Signature record label. Biography Theo Parrish ...

(1995 Photo/Video) – musician and DJ * Margot Peet (attended) – painter, student of Thomas Hart Benton *

Chris Pitman Chris Pitman (born November 16, 1961) is an American musician best known for his involvement with the hard rock band Guns N' Roses. A multi-instrumentalist, Pitman is known to play keyboards, guitar and drums, in addition to his role as a lead o ...

(attended) - musician, Guns N’ Roses member * Donna Polseno (1972 Ceramics) – ceramic artist *

Sam Prekop Sam Prekop (born October 18, 1964) is an American musician in the band The Sea and Cake. He also has released five solo albums. Early life Prekop was born in London, but grew up in Chicago. He studied at the Kansas City Art Institute. Career ...

(attended) – photographer, musician with

The Sea and Cake The Sea and Cake is an American indie rock band with a jazz influence, based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The group formed in the mid-1990s from members of The Coctails (Archer Prewitt), Shrimp Boat (Sam Prekop and Eric Claridge), an ...

Archer Prewitt Archer Prewitt (born 1963 in Frankfort, Kentucky) is an American musician and cartoonist associated with the independent music scene in Chicago, Illinois. Biography Music Prewitt enrolled in the Kansas City Art Institute and began drumming i ...

(1985 Painting) – illustrator, musician with

and The Cocktails *

Robert Rauschenberg Milton Ernest "Robert" Rauschenberg (October 22, 1925 – May 12, 2008) was an American painter and graphic artist whose early works anticipated the Pop art movement. Rauschenberg is well known for his Combines (1954–1964), a group of artwor ...

(attended 1946 -1948) – painter *

Glen Rounds Glen Harold Rounds (April 4, 1906 – September 27, 2002) was an American writer and illustrator. In a career that exceeded six decades, he wrote and illustrated well over 100 books. He was the recipient of more than 25 literary awards. Early l ...

(attended) – author and illustrator *

Mikel Rouse Mikel Rouse (born Michael Rouse; January 26, 1957 in Saint Louis, Missouri, United States) is an American composer. He has been associated with a Downtown New York City movement known as totalism, and is best known for his operas, including '' ...

(1979 Painting) – musician with

Tirez Tirez Tirez Tirez was an American rock band led by composer/performer Mikel Rouse, the band's only constant member. The group was active from 1978 through 1988, and had a new wave/art rock sensibility that was strongly influenced by minimalism. Histo ...

, developed

Totalism (music) Totalism is a style of art music that arose in the 1980s and 1990s as a response to minimalism. It paralleled postminimalism but involved a younger generation of creators, born in the 1950s. This term, invented by writer and composer Kyle Gann, ha ...

Eric Sall Eric Sall is an artist from South Dakota. Education Sall attended the Yale Summer Program in 1998, graduated from the Kansas City Art Institute in 1999 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. He continued his education at Virginia Commonwealth Univer ...

(1999 Painting) – painter * Nelson Shanks (attended) – painter *

Marjorie Strider Marjorie Virginia Strider (January 26, 1931 – August 27, 2014) was an American painter, sculptor and performance artist best known for her three-dimensional paintings and site-specific soft sculpture installations. Biography Born in 1931 in Gu ...

(1952 Painting) – painter *

Jim Suptic Jim Suptic (born October 14, 1977) is an American musician and entrepreneur, best known for being the guitarist for the rock band The Get Up Kids. Career The Get Up Kids Jim Suptic is best known for being the guitarist and sometime lead singer ...

(attended 1996-1997) – sculptor, musician *

Akio Takamori Akio Takamori (1950 – January 11, 2017) was a Japanese-American ceramic sculptor and was a faculty member at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington. Biography Takamori was born in Nobeoka, Miyazaki, Japan in 1950 October 11. Th ...

(1976 Ceramics) – ceramic artist *

Robert Templeton Robert Templeton (12 December 1802 – 2 June 1892) was a naturalist, artist, and entomologist, and was born at Cranmore House, Belfast, Ireland. Life and work Robert Templeton was the son of John Templeton, and was educated in Belfast ...

(attended) – painter, painted the portrait of President Carter in the National Portrait Gallery * Emily Weber ('09 Graphic Design) – Missouri State Representative (District 24) * Christopher Willits (2000 Photo/New Media) – musician, sound and multimedia artist *

Kathryn Zaremba Kathryn Lauren Zaremba (born September 24, 1983) is an American writer, illustrator, surface designer, business woman, singer, and former actress. She is best known for her roles as Annie Bennett Warbucks in the 1993 musical '' Annie Warbucks'' a ...

(2008 Interdisciplinary Art) - former Full House and Toothless star * Arnie Zimmerman (1977 Ceramics) – ceramicist

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Art schools in Missouri Universities and colleges in Kansas City, Missouri 1885 establishments in Missouri Educational institutions established in 1885 Private universities and colleges in Missouri