Kalamazoo Institute of Arts

The Chrysalis Institute aims to expand the spectrum of opportunities available to emerging BIPOC artists by supporting self-exploration, self-care, and contemplative practices. As the Founder and Director of the Chrysalis Institute, Alessandra Pye is deeply aware that creative practice is in direct relationship to socio-emotional wellness, capacity building and identity development.

In 1984, during the 100th anniversary celebration of Kalamazoo becoming a city, a group of photographers spent a few months documenting what life was like in the community. Since then, the project has expanded to a year-long process of documenting Kalamazoo County every decade or so, most recently during 2020. Learn about the history of […]

Let’s think outside the square! The perfect square is torn up, has holes poked through it, or crumbled, but it always transforms into something new. Let’s create our own perfect square and look for fun shapes in the galleries.

Have you ever wanted to see a microscopic object up close? Kalamazoo photographer Mark Cassino will share his twenty years experience with the art and science of snowflake photography. Illustrated with dozens of photographs, Cassino will discuss the development for making high magnification photographs of snowflakes using ordinary photographic equipment. Interesting aspects of individual snowflakes […]

Ai Weiwei’s sculptures and installations have been viewed by millions around the globe. His architectural achievements include helping to design the iconic Bird’s Nest Olympic Stadium in Beijing. His political activism made him a target of the Chinese authorities, which culminated in months of secret detention without charge in 2011. Here, Weiwei explores the origins […]

In the spirit of Faisal Abdu’Allah’s work in Unmasking Masculinity, the KIA has invited local stylists to participate in a Live Salon. A local barber will speak about the role that barbershops play in the community and invite a member of the audience to chat while having a haircut.

Two friends enjoy making paper airplanes together and feel unable to keep creating when a move separates them. Arty Mouse will learn how they get their creative spark back. We will make paper airplanes inspired by two artworks in the galleries. Then we’ll have a flying test — whose paper plane can fly the farthest?

Join us for a virtual celebration of the Unmasking Masculinity for the 21st Century catalog. Catalog contributors Maurice Wallace, Jeff Chang, and Anuradha Vikram will join curators Rehema Barber and Larry Ossei-Mensah for a lively conversation about the ways in which we define masculinity in the 21st century.

Unmasking Masculinity for the 21st Century includes works of art by Kehinde Wiley, Ebony G. Patterson, and JC Lenochan. Before them, before all of them, came Robert Colescott. Despite Colescott’s widespread profound influence on generations of American artists, his name is missing from survey courses on 20th-century American art. Who was Robert Colescott? What did […]