President

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Kansas City Art Institute

Kansas City, Missouri

The Kansas City Art Institute (KCAI), one of the most respected independent colleges of art and design in the nation, seeks a dynamic president to build on its current momentum and lead the institution to its next era of success. Starting in summer 2022, the next president will guide strategic growth, strengthen the college’s identity and community, deepen its relationships with external partners, and energize the campus community in pursuit of further academic and artistic excellence.

Founded in 1885, KCAI is a fully-accredited four-year private college serving approximately 700 degree-seeking students with 115 full- and part-time faculty and an operating budget of $22 million. The college offers the B.F.A. degree in 13 majors spanning the fine arts, design, and the liberal arts, with a growing curricular emphasis on digital technology that balances its longstanding strengths in traditional studio disciplines.

Located on a beautiful 16-acre campus in the cultural heart of metropolitan Kansas City, Missouri and framed by two world-class art museums—the Nelson-Atkins Museum and the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art—KCAI has long been a leader in the thriving art and design culture of the community. KCAI faculty and alumni have been credited with sparking the proliferation of art galleries in the city’s Crossroads Arts District, which in turn helped to catalyze the rebirth of Kansas City’s downtown as a vibrant center for the visual and performing arts.

This is an exciting opportunity for an innovative and visionary leader to further develop a premier art and design institution that prepares talented students to transform the world through their creative pursuits. Candidates should bring substantive knowledge and passion for the visual arts; a proven capacity for organizational and academic leadership, including developing and implementing strategic plans; and a demonstrated track record with fundraising and fiscal management. KCAI seeks an individual with a respectful, collaborative, and accessible leadership style; excellent communication skills; a lived commitment to inclusion, diversity, equity, access, and sustainability; a penchant for community engagement; and the drive to be an ambassador and advocate for the college in the broader regional and national landscapes.

Kansas City Art Institute has retained the national executive search firm Isaacson, Miller to assist in the recruitment of its next president. All inquiries, nominations, referrals, and applications should be submitted in confidence through the Isaacson, Miller website at http://www.imsearch.com/7469.

Kansas City Art Institute is fully committed to Equal Employment Opportunity and to attracting, retaining, developing and promoting the most qualified employees without regard to their race, gender, gender identity, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, physical or mental disability, genetic information, citizenship status, veteran status, or any other characteristic prohibited by federal, state or local law.