The Kansas City Art Institute is accepting submissions for the 2022 Annual BFA Exhibition hosted at both the H&R Block Artspace and the KCAI Gallery: Center for Contemporary Practice.
All eligible seniors graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the Kansas City Art Institute have the opportunity to represent their graduating class in the Annual BFA Exhibition. This exhibition represents the culmination of your academic experience at KCAI, while serving as an important preview and introduction to your thesis projects for your peers, family, friends, arts professionals, collectors, and the public.
The 2022 BFA Team is composed of KCAI staff who will work with you during your submission process. Team members this year include Zaina Bseiso, KCAI Lecturer in Filmmaking and 2022 BFA Guest Curator, Raechell Smith, H&R Block Artspace Director, Michael Schonhoff, KCAI Gallery: Center for Contemporary Practice Director, Marcus Cain, H&R Block Artspace Manager of Operations and Communications, and Lueking Knabe, Artspace Block Fellow.
The BFA Team considers it a privilege and honor to work with every graduating senior to help make the best BFA exhibition possible. To that end, we would like to outline some important elements of this collaboration:
Elements of a Successful Collaboration:
• This partnership is designed to provide support and a platform for your to do your best work and to create a meaningful experience for the public.
• It will be important to establish direct, professional, and open lines of communication.
• Your participation should demonstrate an understanding of a unified purpose and a shared audience.
• We ask you to respect your fellow students in a shared and inclusive platform for all graduating seniors.
• We appreciate your capacity to be nimble, flexible, and respectful to help foster a cooperative and collaborative environment for your peers.
• As we observe all Covid-19 protocols and guidelines determined by KCAI, federal, state, and local officials during this program, we ask for your patience and understanding should any changes or modifications be required due to public health and safety concerns.
Required Submission Materials:
(Please confirm with your faculty as each department's criteria and deadlines may differ)
1. Work samples: up to 5 images/stills 300dpi (JPEG) and/or 1 short video clip in MPEG-4 (MP4) format.
2. Image list (pdf).
3. Detailed Proposal (pdf): Include as much information as possible about your plans. What will the work look like; how will it function/perform; how will it be made; what is your framing/installation plan; is it a site specific work, time-based, or performative? You may include drawings and diagrams and/or other supporting material. Please include proposed dimensions for object-based work, and/or proposed duration for time-based work.
4. For Animation seniors submitting time-based media, provide a brief synopsis of your film (maximum of 250 characters, Word doc), and work samples: up to 3-5 images/stills JPEG or PNG HD 1920px X 1080px 72dpi minimum.
5. Artist statement (less than 300 words, first-person narrative, Word doc).
6. Curriculum Vitae/Resume - "CV" (black type on white paper, Word doc).
Artist Review Sessions:
• You may request to sign up for a one-on-one Artist Review Session to discuss your submission with 2022 BFA Guest Curator Zaina Bseiso.
• An email will be sent to all participating artists to sign up March 1-4 for these 15-minute Artist Review Sessions, which will be scheduled virtually between March 5-12.
Timeline:
• December 10-January 24, Complete Letter of Intent Google Form to confirm your plans to participate in the exhibition
• January 24-28, View the 2022 BFA Intro Forum video with your faculty representative, and create your Submittable profile
• January 28, Virtual Q&A with Artspace and KCAI Gallery staff and faculty representatives to address any questions
• February 7-25, Upload your BFA submission to the Submittable portal. Be sure to save your work as you go and hit “submit” before the portal closes at 5:00 p.m. on February 25
• March 1-4, Sign-up for Artist Review Sessions
• March 5-12, Artist Review Sessions, by appointment
• March 23, Artists receive notification of venue assignment (Artspace or KCAI Gallery)
• March 28-April 1, Artwork Delivery, by appointment
• April 7-9, Installation, by appointment
• April 15-16, Opening weekend
• May 14, Commencement
• May 15-18, De-installation and Pickup, by appointment
Schedule, Guidelines, and Resource Lists are all available as downloadable PDFs on both:
The Artspace "Student Opportunities" web page https://kcai.edu/artspace/student-opportunities/.
and
The KCAI Gallery web page https://kcai.edu/kcai-gallery/