11/07/2025
We just returned home from a whirlwind trip to KC for the first KCAI Endowment Luncheon. It was a lovely trip and very informative.
We had a wonderful dinner with Maura Cluthe, the Head of the Illustration Department, to discuss plans for the next Simply Kitts Foundation Art Show. We're looking at some gallery options on or close to campus this time to, hopefully, draw in current and past Illustration students as well as more people from the community. Depending on availability we are hoping to do the show in the Fall of 2026. As soon as we have details on a location and dates we will put out a call for artists.
The following day we attended the KCAI Endowment Luncheon which provided a lot of interesting information regarding the endowments KCAI has. It also gave us the opportunity to meet the current Institute President and the interim Vice President of Institutional Advancement, Chadwick Brooks, who is in charge of the various endowments.
KCAI has a fairly small endowment list and very few that are given directly to students. It made us feel very proud to discover just how much our scholarship endowment means to the Illustration department and the students who have received it. I think it is the only endowment specifically for illustration students. It is so good to know that we are making a difference and it has energized us to push harder in the hopes of helping even more students meet their educational and artistic potential.
