Not so long ago this institution was voted one of the WORST educational values in the nation . . . Now, it looks like they're getting a bit more practical in their course offerings which focus on the practical over the conceptual and/or political slapfights studied daily by broke-ass TKC Readers.
The reality is that most American companies design products here, ship them to Shenzhen for manufacturing and then collect profits for that blessed hot second until copyrights become useless and/or futile to enforce i.e. we'd feel sorry about the $159 iPhone IF the issue of worker hardship inspiring suicide wasn't a persistent story.
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The reality is that most American companies design products here, ship them to Shenzhen for manufacturing and then collect profits for that blessed hot second until copyrights become useless and/or futile to enforce i.e. we'd feel sorry about the $159 iPhone IF the issue of worker hardship inspiring suicide wasn't a persistent story.
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Product Design | Kansas City Art Institute
Professor and Acting Chair Chris Chapin has dedicated his career in design education to the positive influences artists and designers can have in providing innovative solutions to the global community. He joined KCAI in 2009. Since that time, he has led the Graphic Design program, taught cross-disciplinary Foundation studios, and developed a progressive Product Design program.
Yes after decades here I've begun to notice these KC Art Institute grads are pretty strange.
ReplyDelete^^well thanks gramps! I'm sure they think a man walking around in a shitty diaper & talking to himself is pretty strange too!
ReplyDeleteTHIS is a huge breakthrough for KCAI. Good for them!
ReplyDeleteI have long supported over 30 emerging artists there, at their end of semester sales. But been concerned if they were receiving enough real world coaching that would enable them to support themselves once they graduate. Painting flowers is not self-supporting.
This program is the nexus of what I think has been missing in the curriculum. Now not EVERY artist has the chops or the interest to do this. But some do.
Most recently, in December I met such a person--Christopher Robin Velez, a talented scholarship student from Florida. In his first semester Foundations class, he had taken a poem, "Hospice" he had written about his late grandmother, and created a 16 foot long cardboard box stencilled with that poem. I wept at its power. That's what art is about: moving people to tears. I purchased the piece, which is now on the ceiling of my kitchen. Otherwise, since he lives in a 12 foot long dorm room, Velez said the piece might have been trashed, never to be appreciated again.
Reinstalling art in a new space is one of the biggest challenges for all young artists. Velez was tasked with engineering how to deconstruct the massive piece; fit it in my van, (with 1/2 inch to spare!); transport it to Shawnee; reconstruct it and install it from a ceiling, perfectly straight.
I met Velez's Foundations professor, an architect, who commutes from 100 miles away--in Alma Ks, just to teach at KCAI. That's dedication to good design.
So hurray. This kind of strategic vision for the future is going to bring financial viability to some students, long term careers making a difference in the world at large. And I expect KCAI grads to bring a great design aesthetic to some products and buildings across the country.
Are you still mad about the community center?
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