Assistant Professor Eleanor Lim-Midyett is bringing a contemporary take on a traditional Chinese compositional technique to her Modern Chinese Narratives class. Jueju poetry is the Chinese cousin of the more familiar Japanese Haiku that originated during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.) The ancient artform is experiencing a revival led by Professor Jonathan Stalling of the University of Oklahoma who is working to adapt the traditional form to English for American culture. Students in Professor Lim-Midyett’s class crafted English jueju poems following the guidelines of 5 or 7 syllable quatrains which adhere to an AABA rhyme scheme. Dr. Stalling visited her class in order to workshop the poems. “During the pandemic, I turned to composing classical jueju poetry in English as a form of self-reflection and cultivating a sense of inner-peace,” Lim-Midyett said. “As I started researching the jueju form, I came across resources from Professor Jonathan Stalling who teaches Chinese literature at University of Oklahoma and also happened to have an exhibition called the Poetics of Invention at UMKC’s Miller Nichols Library that addressed jueju literary composition, printmaking and translation. Professor Stalling accompanied me on a tour of his exhibition during a summer visit to UMKC, and we started collaborating read more…
Roberto Lugo (‘12 Ceramics) returns to KCAI to inspire students
Urban potter and social activist Roberto Lugo (’12 Ceramics) is having a moment. In the last month, he’s been featured on CBS This Morning, PBS News Hour, and in the New York Times. He also has 26 pieces in Before Yesterday We Could Fly: An Afrofuturist Period Room, which opened Nov. 5 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He’s crazy busy, but he still spent two days this month meeting with KCAI students and sharing his ideas about life as an artist. During his visit, he led a roundtable with Ceramics students and faculty. He also spoke about his life experiences at an evening lecture in Epperson Auditorium attended by 75 students. They were so inspired to hear from not only an alumnus who is receiving national recognition for his work, but also from someone who understands what it’s like to be an art student, that they lined up afterward to get his autograph. Roberto conducted ten studio visits with students across disciplines and spent time getting to know their motivation and process. The visit was pivotal for Carlos Heredia (Senior, Ceramics). “I felt like I was a little bit stuck before he came. He asked me some deep questions read more…
Student clubs build community and connections
It’s common to see students outside on the campus green sketching, shooting photos, or building sculptures. This fall something new is happening that involves running in formation, kicking balls, and performing passing drills. On a warm October evening, just before the sunset, Kobi Nolan (Junior, Painting) put 30 students through a series of soccer drills. They were trying out for the KCAI Night Owls, a co-ed sports club he started in 2020. “Just because we’re art students, doesn’t mean that we’re not active or have little interest in sports. I did a survey with students before I started the team, and there was so much interest, not in just soccer but basketball and volleyball too, ” he said. The Night Owls is one of 15 student organizations on campus which range from the Black Student Union to the Dueling Club to the Dungeons and Dragons League. Over 150 students get together to share common interests, make a difference through social activism, and just have fun. According to Assistant Director of Housing and Student Activities Roxie Kennedy, who oversees the student organization program, the biggest reason to get involved is to form deeper connections with other students. “Whether you live on read more…