Alumni Success
We love hearing from alumni about how they are putting their artistic skills into practice. Many are already making a name for themselves in their various artistic disciplines.
We have so many successful alumni that we can’t possibly share all of their stories but you can read about a few KCAI grads we’ve chosen to spotlight here.
Ben Radatz ('98 Photo/Film)
Designer, Filmmaker & Animator
A Los Angeles-based filmmaker, designer, photographer and writer with an interest in experimental animation, new technologies, visual research and nostalgic influence.
Paul Briggs ('96 Illustration)
Storyteller and Storyboard Artist
A Texas native and Kansas City Art Institute alumnus, Briggs has carved a remarkable path through the animation industry over a career spanning more than 25 years.
Maria Vasquez Boyd ('91 Painting)
Artist, Radio Host, Collector, and Writer
In a world where artists often struggle to find a voice, Maria Vasquez Boyd has spent over a decade amplifying theirs, transforming her passion for art into a powerful platform that centers creativity and community.
Boi Boy ('16 Fiber)
DIY Art Space Creator
Discovering your motivation as an artist helps shape the way you create and present your art. Making art that inspires others and provides the space for escapism is what inspires artist Boi Boy's (‘16 Fiber) drive to create.
Whitney Manney ('12 Fiber)
Textile Designer
Whitney Manney is translating the aesthetics of street art and the effect of the cultural movements on the current urban landscape into ready-to-wear wearable art and textile design with her Whitney Manney label. Her designs are featured in Peacock's sitcom Bel Air. Her garments and accessories are worn by characters Ashley Banks played by Akira Akbar, and Lisa played by Simone Joy Jones.
Roberto Lugo ('12 Ceramics)
Fine Artist and Professor at Tyler School of Art
Roberto Lugo is an potter, social activist, spoken word poet, and educator. Lugo's work as a social activist is represented in his artworks, where he draws together hip-hop, history, politics and his cultural background into formal ceramics and 2D works.
Nick Cave ('82 Fiber)
Fine Artist and Professor at SAIC
In addition to teaching at SAIC, Nick Cave is a performer and fashion designer. He creates Soundsuits, which are elaborately designed assemblages of unexpected materials that emit sound as the person wearing them moves.
Laura Foster Nicholson ('76 Fiber & Design)
LFN Textiles
With a BFA from Kansas City Art Institute and and MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art, she has lectured, taught, and exhibited internationally. Her artwork is in museum collections, including the Art Institute of Chicago, The Minneapolis Institute of Art, and the Denver Art Museum among others. She's been awarded an NEA fellowship, the Leone di Pietra prize at the Venice Biennale of Architecture, three Illinois Arts Council fellowships, and a grant from the Graham Foundation for Research in the Fine Arts.
Matt Bollinger ('03 Painting & Creative Writing)
Fine Artist
Matt Bollinger is an artist living in Ithaca, NY who works across painting, animation, sculpture and music. His work has been exhibited in solo shows in New York, Los Angeles, Paris, and London and in institutions like the South Bend Museum of Art, the Schneider Museum and Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain, Saint-Étienne Métropole. In 2016 and 2021, he received NYFA grants in Painting.
