American Illustration 43, Chosen Winners!

We are pleased to share that the following pieces that were submitted to the American Illustration 43 Call For Entries have been chosen to appear online in The ARCHIVE curated collection. Although these pieces were not selected to appear in the AI43 award book, they have the distinction of being 5 pieces selected out of only 366 that will appear in The ARCHIVE, receiving at least four votes from the AI43 Jury from over 8,000 submissions.

The ARCHIVE collection will launch in November after the annual launch event in NYC. This work will also be presented in the winners announcement in May and shared through the American Illustration social media channels.

Please join us in congratulating the following students! Congratulations everyone!!

Taylor Sims, ‘24 • Desert Biome, 5x7 inches, gouache. Instructor: David Terrill

Katie Mellick, ‘26 • Self Portrait, 36x36 inches, oil on canvas. Instructor: John Ferry

Eku Uresti, ‘26 • She is Me, 36x36 inches, oil on canvas. Instructor: Frank Norfleet

Amy Longo, ‘ 26 • Wandering the Woods, digital. Instructor: Frank Norfleet

Amy Longo, ‘26 • Redwood, digital. Instructor: Brett Watkinson

2024 Society of Illustrators Student Scholarship Exhibition and Catalog

We recently found out that 6 of our Illustration students had work accepted into the 2024 Society of Illustrators Student Scholarship Exhibit and Catalog. Two of those students, senior Erica Hoelting, ‘24 and senior Robin Miller, ‘24, each had two pieces accepted!

Every year since 1981 the Society has held the Student Scholarship Competition. Over three hundred works are chosen from more than 8,700 entries submitted by professors of college-level students nationwide. In a competition which can kick start a career, students bring their most sophisticated, well-crafted and original work to be tested. A jury of professional peers, including illustrators and art directors, selects the most outstanding works created throughout the year. Pieces are accepted based on the quality of technique, concept and skill of medium used (taken from societyofillustrators.org).

We are so proud of the students whose work was selected this year and proud of all of the students who submitted work. Congratulations to the winners!! Well done, everyone!

Kyra Correa, ‘24 • Native Plant Triptych • Instructor: Steve Mayse

Erica Hoelting, ‘24 • Louie the Dachshund • Instructor: Héctor Casanova

Erica Hoelting, ‘24 • Harvest Mystiques • Instructor: Il Sung Na

YeonGyu Kang, ‘24 • My Daily Schedule: 2024 • Instructor: David Terrill

Katie Mellick, ‘26 • Self Portrait • Instructor: John Ferry

Robin Miller, ‘24 • Eggs on Toast • Instructor: Kate Clements

Robin Miller, ‘24 • The Cat's Garden Party • Instructor: Michael Wickerson

Zso Nemeth, ‘24 • Lyra • Instructor: Rahele Jomepour Bell

The Association of Illustrators Competition

This is an important announcement for the KCAI Illustration Students:

Our Faculty Professor Rahele Jomepour Bell has found an incredible Illustration opportunity for students to partake in. The Association of Illustrators is hosting a competition where students can submit their work and win awards. Further information will be provided below:

Illustration by Alberto Casagrande

World Illustration Awards 2024 has different categories to which you can submit your work: advertising, book covers, design, product & packaging, children’s publishing, editorials sponsored by Procreate, and exploration.

  • The deadline for WIA2024 is 13 February 2024, at the end of the day, wherever you are in the world.

  • Illustrations or projects featuring illustrations in any format or usage can be entered into WIA 2024. This includes still images, animated gifs, and animations created in any medium, such as digitally, painted, or collaged. You can also enter photos of your work in situ, such as murals or a display of your products.

  • Work can be self-initiated, such as coursework or portfolio work, or commissioned by a client and created by illustrators working in any sector. The illustration must have been created, completed, commissioned, or published since January 2023.

  • How to enter: Follow this link to find out more details: https://theaoi.com/world-illustration-awards/how-to-enter-wia2024/

Awards:  
1 Overall Professional Winner (Cash Prize of £2000)
1 Overall New Talent Winner (Cash Prize of £1000)
4 Cross Category Winners (Various Prizes)
20 Category Winners (one New Talent and one Professional per category)
20 Highly Commended Projects (one New Talent and one Professional per category)
200 Shortlisted Projects
500 Longlisted Projects

STUDENT COMPETITIONS FOR FALL 2023

Thanks to the information provided by Assistant Professor Rahele Jomepour Bell, we are pleased to announce that there are multiple competitions for our Illustration students to take part in for this upcoming fall semester. Both of the competitions are listed below. Check it out!

SILENT BOOK CONTEST 2024 - GIANNI DE CONNO AWARD

INTERNATIONAL CONTEST FOR ILLUSTRATED BOOKS WITHOUT WORDS

Illustration by Gianni De Conno

The Silent Book Contest will give a prize money and publication to an original illustrated and unpublished book project that has been created and produced exclusively through narration by illustrated images. Given that the illustrated book and the visual language of illustrations and pictures is in no way secondary to written language, with a universal power and potential that supersedes any barrier of language or genre, the Silent Book Contest competition invites authors and illustrators to think up and design a book conceived exclusively for the telling of a story through illustrated images, on any subject and intended for a wide and diverse section of the reading public, regardless of genre or age. Among the books sent to the competition, an International Jury will select the finalists to be announced and exhibited at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair and at the Salone Internazionale del Libro of Turin. The author of the book project selected as the winner by the International Jury will receive a monetary prize of Euro 4,000 as advance for copyright with publishing agreement. The winning book project will be published by Carthusia Edizioni. 

For more information visit their website here: https://silentbookcontest.com/about/

Narrative Art Award For The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators

The 2022 SCBWI competition winner Annie Herzig

Each year, a rotating panel of judges will provide an assignment and will judge the submissions. The theme and specific assignment will change year to year, but the general goal will be to show sequence and narrative. The prize is an all-expense-paid trip to the SCBWI New York Winter Conference. The winning illustrations will be displayed during the New York Portfolio Showcase (in conjunction with the conference). We will also have an online gallery displaying the submissions to the award for any member who submitted to the award and wants to participate.

Submissions for 2023 will reopen from October 1 through October 31, 2023. The prompt will be announced soon.

Student Membership for SCBWI is $25 a year.

For more information, visit their website, here: https://www.scbwi.org/awards-and-grants/for-illustrators/narrative-art-award

Student and faculty work selected for 3x3 Annual

Earlier this year, several students and one of our faculty had work elected to be published in the 3x3 International Illustration Annual No.20 and the online gallery. Honorable Mentions will be listed in the 3x3 Annual and will be included in the online gallery as well. Congratulations everyone! We are so proud of you!

Clarice Bartel, ‘23 • Swallow Tail Kite, Honorable Mention

Taylor Ingram, ‘24 • Noir Portrait, Honorable Mention



Simon Angel Pitts, ‘24 • Man with Arrow, Merit

Olivia Tucker, ‘23 • Fractions of You in Me, Merit

John Ferry, Professor • Chicago #1

John Ferry, Professor • Urinal #1

students recognized for their Six-Word Memoirs

Earlier this summer, five students from the Illustration department had their work recognized for the pieces they created in John Ferry’s sophomore level Image and Form Exploration class. Every year John has students write and illustrate a Six-Word Memoir which he submits to Six Word Memoirs. Started as a simple prompt in 2006 by Larry Smith, the founder of Smith Magazine, the Six-Word Memoir has become a global project engaging individuals of all ages, from all walks of life.

Broke My Toe On The Ceiling, by Alex Gorsuch (‘25)

Congratulations to Alex Gorsuch (‘25), Lucy Hodges (‘25), Taylor Ingram (‘25), Finley Klein (‘25) and Vanessa Navia (‘25) for their wonderful work. To see everyone’s work and read the full article check out the full post, HERE.

American Illustration 42 Selected and Chosen winners

Just a few days after receiving our copy of American Illustration 41, we found out that we had a few faculty selected to be included in American Illustration 42 as well as a few students and faculty who were chosen to be part of the American Illustration online archive. We are so excited for our students and faculty. Congratulations everyone!!

Assistant Professor Il Sung Na, 2022 • Selected Winner, American Illustration 42

Assistant Professor Il Sung Na, 2022 • Selected Winner, American Illustration 42

Professor David Terrill, 2022 • Selected Winner, American Illustration 42

Callie Catchpole, ‘25 • Chosen Winner, American Illustration Archive

Olivia Tucker, ‘23 • Chosen Winner, American Illustration Archive

Professor John Ferry, 2022 • Chosen Winner, American Illustration Archive

Associate Professor + Chair Maura Cluthe, 2022 • Chosen Winner, American Illustration Archive

American Illustration 41 winners

We are thrilled to announce that junior Isabel Thoroughman (‘24) is an American Illustration winner and as such, recently had work published in American Illustration 41. Isabel is the first student since the relaunch of the Illustration program in 2010 to receive this honor.

“From over 7000 images submitted by illustrators, magazines, agencies, publishers and schools, only 429 professional and 14 student images were selected by a majority vote or better to appear in the book, representing the best images from 2021.” - taken from American Illustration 41

Professor David Terrill and Associate Professor & Chair Maura Cluthe also had work published in American Illustration 41. Congratulations all!

Isabel Thoroughman • A Catalog of Librarians, digital

We’re so proud of you, Isabel!

David Terrill • Psychopomp, ink and digital

Psychpomp was inspired by reading Neil Gaiman’s book American Gods.

Maura Cluthe • Pattern Play 2021, acrylic, collage and posca on canvas

Pattern Play 2021 was inspired by Maura’s love of shapes and pattern.

The Kansas City Art Institute was one of nine schools (!) represented in American Illustration 41.

2023 Society of Illustrators Student Scholarship Winners

We recently found out that 4 of our Illustration students had work accepted into the 2023 Society of Illustrators Student Scholarship Exhibit and Catalog. One of those students, sophomore Simon Angel Pitts (‘25), had 2 pieces accepted. For his piece Boys Don’t Cry, he will receive the $1000 Lila and Ben Dryer Scholarship Award.

Every year since 1981 the Society has held the Student Scholarship Competition. Over three hundred works are chosen from more than 8,700 entries submitted by professors of college-level students nationwide. In a competition which can kick start a career, students bring their most sophisticated, well-crafted and original work to be tested. A jury of professional peers, including illustrators and art directors, selects the most outstanding works created throughout the year. Pieces are accepted based on the quality of technique, concept and skill of medium used (taken from societyofillustrators.org).

We are so proud of the students whose work was selected this year and proud of all of the students who submitted work. Congratulations to the winners!! Well done, everyone!

Olivia Tucker, ‘23 • Fractions of You in Me, digital, Instructor: David Terrill

Taylor Sims, ‘24 • Quality Hill, digital painting, Instructor: John Ferry

Catherine Rybak, ‘24 • Hostage, risograph, Instructor: Maura Cluthe

Simon Angel Pitts, ‘25 • Afterlife, digital painting, Instructor: Steve Mayse

$1000 Lila and Ben Dryer Scholarship Award winner

Simon Angel Pitts, ‘25 • Boys Don’t Cry, oil on canvas, Instructor: John Ferry

2023 Covers & Pages Anthology covers selected!

We are excited to announce the selected covers for the 2023 Covers + Pages Anthology!  Covers + Pages is a junior level sequential narrative class. Every year we print an anthology of the strongest sequential work from the class and every year we invite two comic book illustrators, writers or editors to jury the covers. BIG THANKS to our wonderful jurors Chris Grine and Matt Hawkins for generously giving their time and insight. We greatly appreciate it!

Chris and Matt were really impressed with caliber of the work and storytelling by our juniors this year. After much discussion, they picked four final covers and five honorable mentions this year. We are proud to showcase them here. Congratulations everyone!!

SELECTED COVERS:

Saffie Miles, ‘24

Meredith Lewis, ‘24

Robin Miller, ‘24

Brady West, ‘24

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

From left to right: Isabel Thoroughman, ‘24, YeonGyu Kang, ‘24 and Bailey Kentling, ‘24

From left to right: Zso Nemeth, ‘24 and Erica Hoelting, ‘24

New Junior murals throughout Illustration building

This semester, as part of the junior level class US: Collaboration, juniors spent 9 weeks completing murals throughout the Illustration building. To get started on this endeavor, a questionnaire was sent out to everyone in the department — students, faculty and staff — with a request for what kind of images they’d like to see within the department. Ten different themes rose to the top of the list and the juniors, separated into twelve teams, were asked to create sketches against these themes. They could choose whatever theme they wanted. Once the sketches were complete, the remaining juniors voted on the final direction for each team mural.

Although the murals are complete, we thought we’d show a little bit of the behind-the-scenes painting process. This was a huge project! We’re so proud of the work that our juniors created! Way to go everyone!!

Juniors Drake Gochenour (left) and Chaneryna Thach (right) work on gridding out their mural. Photo taken by team member Meriam Schieber.

Juniors Megan Cason (left) and Zso Nemeth (right) working on their mural. Photo by team member Giselle Hernandez.

Junior Jack Brooks working on his mural. Photo by team member Brianna Burgo.

Junior YeonGyu Kang works on her mural. Photo by team member Mimi Zarate-Bello.

Juniors Meredith Lewis (left) and Erica Hoelting (right) working on their mural. Photo by team member Anita Kim.

Junior Lew Winstead working on their mural. Photo by team member YeonGyu Kang.

Juniors Gabbi Weaver (left) and Clarice Bartel (right) working on their mural. Photo by team member Trinity Burgo.

Juniors Donnie Kennedy (left) and Candyce Nyasani (right) working on their mural. Photo taken by team member Kathryn Chapin.

Junior Jenny Le finishing up their mural. Photo by team member Taylor Sims.

Junior Cassidy Weaver working on her mural. Photo taken by team member Giselle Hernandez.

Juniors Isabel Thoroughman (left) and Piper Koontz (right) working on their mural. Photo by team member Kelsie Kirkland.

Junior Brady West working on his mural. Photo by team member YeonGyu Gang.

Juniors Miriam Schieber (foreground) and Chaneryna Thach (background) working on their mural. Photo by team member Drake Gochenour.

Junior Emma DeJong working on their mural. Photo by team member Giselle Hernandez.

From left to right, juniors Tim Ames, Karina De La Rosa Sosa, Mars Thomas and Catherine Rybak work together to finish up their mural.

Juniors Jiyu Son (left) and Shane McCullough (right) working on their mural. Photo by team member Brianna Burgo.

Juniors Bailey Kentling (left) and Nathan Starkey (right) working on their mural. Photo taken by team member Zharia Okoye.

Junior Cooper Carter working on his mural. Photo taken by team member Rain Luzynski.

Juniors Blake Wiedenmeyer (left) and Rachel Hendel (right) working on their mural. Photo take by team member Brianna Burgo.

Thanks for reading! We’ll be posting photos of the final murals soon so stay tuned.

2022 End of Semester Show preview!

KCAI Illustration is proud to present our Spring 2022 End of Semester Show and Sale featuring the work of some of our senior, junior and sophomore illustrators. After two years of virtual exhibitions, we are happy to return to an in-person on campus exhibition. This is our first spring exhibition in our new building, the Tony Jones Studio Building, as well. We’re so grateful for this space and hope you can stop by. KCAI Illustration is located in the South Tower of the building and the exhibition is on the 2nd floor. The show opens TONIGHT (!) from 5-8pm and continues throughout the weekend on Saturday, May 7 from 10am-5pm and on Sunday, May 8 from 12-5pm.

Ekaterina Gale, ‘22

Robin Miller, ‘24

Hevvon Edwards, ‘23

Bailey Corbin, ‘22

Jack Brooks, ‘24

Emily Johnson, ‘23

Shelby Kessler, ‘22

YeonGyu Kang, ‘24

Trinity Washington, ‘23

Jerrica Patterson, ‘22

Catherine Rybak, ‘24

Josie Karnitz, ‘23

May 2022 Student Feature: Shane McCullough

After quite some time we’re bringing back the student feature for the KCAI Illustration department. We’re nearing the end of the semester but we wanted to give a shout to an excellent student: Shane McCullough!


1.  Tell us about yourself! What’s your name, where are you from?

My name is Shane McCullough. I am a 22-year-old non-binary illustrator and collage artist born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri. I am an introvert but love meeting new people so reach out to me or say Hi when you see me on campus. 

2.  What brought you to KCAI? Why Illustration?

KCAI was originally my first choice school. However, I went to another school in Iowa first but, I wasn't in love with the program so I moved back to KC. I decided that KCAI was going to be the school for me so I built a portfolio and within a year I was accepted. I chose illustration despite having a more graphic design background because I wanted to explore and not be bound by a medium. 

“Float”

3.  What do you like about Kansas City?

Kansas City is by far my favorite city, although I am biased. I love KC’s tight niche artist community and the importance placed on small businesses. I also have to say that we have a very under-appreciated skyline. 

4.  What is your favorite snack?

My favorite snack changes a lot but one constant is fruit. Especially blueberries, bananas, and mangoes. 

5.  What medium do you prefer?

I prefer digital collage mediums but I often add either ink or acrylic mark-making that I will scan and work into my digital collages.

6.  What’s your favorite project thus far and why?

My favorite project was probably the movie poster project in storytellers and myth-makers because I love movies and I would like to do poster design at some point in my career. The project also required vector art as the medium, which I have a lot of experience in and enjoy doing.

7.  If you were not doing art, what do you think you would be studying or doing instead?

Honestly, I think art is the only area of study I would be happy doing. However, before deciding on an art degree I was interested in psychology, architecture, and chemical engineering.

“Soulflower”

8.   What do you like to do outside of class? What hobbies do you have?

Most of my time outside of school is spent cooking and going on walks with my fiancé Elise, taking care of our dogs: Lovey and Tylee, or having dinner and game nights with our friends. Outside of school and work I’ve just been focused on building community and building friendships.  

9.   Who and/or what is an inspiration for you in art-making?

Big inspirations I have are artists like Shepard Fairey, Keith Haring, Basquiat, Franziska Barczyk, Eliza Ivanova, James Jean, Keith Negley, Hilma Af Klint, Maxime manga, and Essam Marouf the list could go on forever. Besides artists, I’m inspired by the power an image has for change especially when the image’s intent is for social or environmental justice. The history and impact that art has had on the human concept of the world are also interesting to me and I hope to be a positive voice and influence in this way. 

“Have a Good Trip”

10. Do you have a go-to tool for sketching and idea generation?

My go-to sketching tools are either a ballpoint pen, mechanical pencils, or oil/chalk pastels. I use a ballpoint pen and mechanical pencil for loose idea generation or when line work is the most important. When color and shape blocking is more important (for things like vector) I use oil or chalk pastels. 

11. What type of art do you want to make?

Currently, I want to work in editorial illustration, movie/tv poster design, and album/music visuals but I am open to all kinds of work and experimentation.

“Mushroom Dream”

Thanks for reading! Be sure to check out more of Shane’s work @m.shane.mccullough (Instagram).

2022 Cover + Pages Anthology covers selected

We are excited to announce the selected covers for the 2022 Covers + Pages Anthology!  Covers + Pages is a junior level sequential narrative class. Every year we print an anthology of the strongest sequential work from the class and every year we invite two comic book illustrators, writers or editors to jury the covers. BIG THANKS to our wonderful jurors Siobhan Gallagher and Ande Parks for generously giving their time and insight. We greatly appreciate it!! This is the first time in two years that we have been able to meet with our jurors in person, and it was great!

Siobhan and Ande were really impressed with the work and storytelling by our juniors this year. After much discussion, Siobhan and Ande picked four final covers and NINE honorable mentions this year. We are proud to showcase them here. Congratulations everyone!!

Siobhan Gallagher, left, and Ande Parks, right

FINAL selected covers:

Olivia Tucker, ‘23

Andrea Carrillo, ‘23

Seon Kim, ‘23

Theresa Heartney, ‘23

Honorable Mentions:

From top to bottom, left to right:

First Row: Kyla Blair, ‘23 / Josie Karnitz, ‘23 / Dani Mays, ‘23

Second Row: Talon Newton, ‘23 / Hevvon Edwards, ‘23 / Daniel Aleman-Padilla, ‘23

Bottom Row: Madison Hummer, ‘23 / Easton McComas, ‘23 / Lee David, ‘23

Mystery Project 2022: Resilience and Conviction

It’s springtime again which means that the KCAI Illustration department has assigned its seasonal Mystery Project.

Every year, sometime after Spring Break, the KCAI Illustration students are tasked with illustrating an image within a tight deadline of three hours. The assignment is always meant to challenge the students and to get them to think on their feet. Every year many students produce some of their best work through this project.

This year we heard Holocaust Survivor Sonia Warshawski (aka Big Sonia) speak to our students. Professor John Ferry was first introduced to Sonia Warshawski when he was a studio manager at Hallmark. Since then he has maintained a connection with Sonia and her oldest daughter Regina. Previously we had had Sonia give a presentation in 2017, and the students responded positively to her presentation. The presentation this year was the first time that Sonia Warshawski had spoken to an audience since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. Needless to say we are honored that she shared her stories with us.

Sonia Warshawski presenting to the KCAI Illustration students and faculty.

KCAI Illustration faculty posing with Sonia and her oldest daughter Regina.

In response to her presentation, the students in our illustration department came up with incredible illustrations that focused on the words ‘resilience’ or ‘conviction’. The illustrations that our students came up with captured the heart of Sonia’s messages to them. From direct imagery to abstract representation, it is safe to say that all of the students took something positive out of Sonia’s discussion. Here are some out of the many wonderful illustrations that our students created for the project.

For more information about Sonia Warshawski and her story of survival, visit bigsonia.com. Big Sonia, directed by Sonia granddaughter Leah Warshawski, is currently being shown on PBS in 90% of the country.

Saffie Miles, 2024

Emily Cerbie, 2023

Enrique Gonzalez, 2022

Donnie Kennedy, 2024

Althea Flores, 2022 / Andrea Carrillo, 2023

Jack Brooks, 2024 / Ronan Brown, 2024

Alex Gonzalez, 2023 / Hevvon Edwards, 2023 / Cooper Carter, 2022 / Theresa Heartney,

Jenna Norris 2022/ Easton McComas, 2023 /Wes Parril 2023

Erica Hoelting, 2024 / Grace Richards, 2024 / Kathryn Chapin, 2024

Grace Bougher, 2024 / Zso Nemeth 2024

Daniel Aleman-Padilla, 2023 / Kyla Blair, 2023 / Bailey Kentling, 2024

Visiting Artist Feature: Loveis Wise

We are very excited to welcome Loveis Wise to our campus this upcoming week for the visiting artist Assignment! Loveis Wise is an LA based illustrator that has done work for the New Yorker, the New York Times, Google, Adobe, Instagram, Cartoon Network, and even Google. Her work focuses on ‘reimagined futures’ and ‘playfulness’.

Spirit Painting, 2022

Every semester we have all students in our department create a piece based off of the assignment that the visiting artist gives them. This year the student’s assignment is to create an illustration based off of their idea of the future. As quoted by Loveis Wise: “What would your dream future look like? Does it reflect a space of beauty, magic, whim, destruction, creativity or change?”

Fable Home Holiday Card, 2022

Love is Love, 2019

We are incredibly excited to see what our students make for this upcoming project. To see more of Loveis Wise’s work check out her website at: loveiswise.com for more amazing illustrations.