A campus-wide interview process began in January 2014 to understand the pedagogical differences and trends for faculty and student attraction that occurred since the last Master Planning process. Administration, Board of Trustee members, faculty, students, and staff were involved in the interview process to give their perspectives on changes, aspirations, challenges, and where the greatest needs lie on the Kansas City Art Institute campus. A transparent process of discovery, analysis, feedback, and decision-making was established to assure that the subtleties of each department’s educational environment were communicated and weighed.

The program for a new academic building housing the Photography, Filmmaking, Animation, & Digital Media Department and the Liberal Arts Department emerged. The recent growth trajectory of the visual arts programs balanced by the stable and constant flow of every student through Liberal Arts classes creates the potential for a vibrant new hub of campus activity. The site for the new building provides a new highly visible gateway to the campus for pedestrians and vehicular traffic. Development of the conceptual design considered siting issues such as passive solar orientation, decreasing stormwater runoff, preservation of campus trees, pedestrian-oriented pathways and public spaces for students and visitors, and an appropriate scale and mass for the neighborhood context.