A History of the Kansas City Art Institute

Erin Konomos & Y Pham

the 1920s in kansas city

the 1920s saw even more development of residential suburbs in the
southern portions of the city, and remarkable commercial growth
downtown, including the professional building at 11th and grand and the
president hotel at 12th and baltimore. movie going replaced burlesque at
this time, resulting in the construction of a number of downtown and
neighborhood theaters. as the city grew south, so did entertainment venues
such as fairyland park that was constructed at 75th and prospect.

the 1920s in kansas city

Kansas City from 1900 - 1926 pursued a distinctive style of
theatrical portraiture, employing backgrounds painted directly on
the glass plate negative, either representational landscapes
painted in an expressively gestural style or abstract patterns of
tone. These vibrant backgrounds suited the sort of celebrity most
frequently featured as the sitter, the vaudeville artist.

1920
in the 1920s, nichols created the country club plaza, a shopping
district and neighborhood along brush creek modeled after the
city of seville, spain.

humble beginnings
kcai originally started as a sketch club in 1885 and on july
18,1887 a kansas city art association and school of design was
incorporated for students. the official school of fine arts didnt
open until january 1888 for public enrollment.

the 1920s
the 1920s was a period of growth and change for the young art
institute. it was when kcai saw a spike in enrollment and support
from the surrounding community.

the 1920s
kcai begins to host midwestern art shows featuring artists from
kansas and missouri, strengthening the bonds the institute has
with the surrounding community.

1920
the name of the school was changed from the Fine Arts Institute
of kansas city to the kansas city art Institute under the leadership
of jc nichols

1920
the school leased the tolls home to hold classes and exhibitions
for the community (the latter being very well attended)

1922
classes were offered in: design, illustration, interior decorating,
costume design, fashion, wood-carving, drawing, painting,
lettering, commercial art, sculpture, and industrial arts and design.

1923
there was controversy at the school when it exhibited a jack
dempsey painting a prizefighter was apparently not a suitable
subject for art

feb 1924
the art institute was completely out of debt having paid off more
than $25,000 in debt over the past few decades

1924
robert a. holland was hired from the st. louis art museum to create
a heightened environment and respectability for the school; it was
fast becoming an art center for the region

1924
mrs. john f. downing loaned the first large book collection to start
a library (800 books); in appreciation the library was named after
her (jannes library)

1925
milestone for the art institute when enrollment increased from 100
students to over 600 students

1927
the vanderslice gift. howard vanderslice approached frank
bernardin regarding the purchase of the august r meyer residence
for the art institute. the agreed upon purchase price was $140,000.

1927
a community gift of $35,000 was given to the art institute to help
purchase vanderslice because the community would rather have
the school for a neighbor than apartments

sep 1928
the kansas city art institute officially opens at the 4415 warwick
location offering 8 acres of land with a japanese garden and
greenhouses for painting studios

apr 1929
art institute week occurred where members of the community and
volunteers for the art institute outreached to gather more
members (patrons) for the art institute. it was extremely successful
and 1,589 members were added.

oct 1929
mr. vanderslice died leaving $250k to the school in a trust fund for
future projects

1930
$90,000 given to the school by mrs. u.s epperson in memory of
her husband to build a wing to vanderslice hall

problem statement
the 1920s were a period of growth not only for the kansas city
area, but also for the kansas city art institute. the timeline will
highlight this relationship that kcai has fostered with the
surrounding community, especially so during 1920-1930.

location
the location of the timeline has to be a gathering place that many
members of the community go to, not just kansas city art institute
students. this way, members of the community can interact and
understand the history of the school that is in their backyard and
students can learn more about the school they attend.

the space
the main issue is to activate it in a way that gets visitors engaged
with the space itself. most likely it will be a kiosk station where
people can interact with it to learn more about the history of the
kansas city art institute.

sources

Government, Missouri. Country Club Plaza: History and

Significance. Accessed October 9, 2016. http://dnr.mo.gov/shpo/
survey/JAAS072-R.pdf

Kansas City Art Institute. Timeline of the Kansas City Art

Institute. Accessed October 9, 2016. http://kcai.edu/about/
history/kcai-timeline/

Kansas City Art Institute. KCAI Archives. Accessed October 9,

2016.

Katz, Milton. The History of the Kansas City Art Institute: A

Century of Excellence and Beyond. Print. Kansas City, Missouri
(2005). Accessed October 9, 2016.