We are a community-based, non-degree art school offering studio-based classes for children through adults year round over four semesters. Mediums offered include: photography, digital media, sculpture, ceramics, jewelry, painting, drawing, printmaking, fiber, glass fusing, languages, creative writing, wellness, and creative professional development.

Your community art school features:

  • 400+ weekly classes are taken by nearly 3,000 students each year
  • 100+ 1 and 2 day workshops and shorter courses of 2-5 weeks
  • In addition to art classes, spring break and summer art camps are offered for children and teens
  • Fall and winter terms are 12 weeks
  • Spring term is seven weeks
  • Summer term is eight weeks
  • Guest artists from around the country visit to teach specialized 1-2 day workshops
  • Scholarships are available for adults, teens, and children, due the month before each semester.

Our facilities surpass most college and university art departments.

  • Ceramics: Electric, gas, salt, and raku kilns plus one off-site anagama kiln
  • Sculpture: Clay, metal welding, and bronze casting foundry
  • Jewelry: Fabrication equipment, vacuum and centrifugal casting, sand blaster, rolling mills, and kilns
  • Printmaking: Intaglio, photo etching, woodblock, lithography, and serigraphy
  • Fibers: 24 floor looms, spinning wheels, and equipment for felting and dyeing
  • Photography: 12 enlargers, chemistry, and systems for alternative processes
  • Computer lab: 10+ state-of-the art Macintosh computers, Epson image and film scanners, and archival printers
  • Glass fusing: Facilities for kiln-formed and kiln-fused glass
  • Language, creative writing, and wellness
  • Creative professional development to support creative business practices
  • Spring and summer youth art camps and year-round youth art classes in a range of disciplines

Register online for classes and workshops, or call (269) 349-7775 to register by phone. You are also welcome to register in person at the KIA front desk or school office. Members enjoy reduced tuition (click to learn more about membership). We love beginners and encourage scholarship applications.

Suggestions for a Course of Study

If you have any questions about which classes are appropriate for your interests, skill level, or which classes to take next on your creative journey, please contact our office for guidance at (269) 585-9266.

Faculty

View our faculty list with links to instructor websites.

Parking

Park free in our Lovell Street and South Street lots. On-street metered parking is free after 5 pm and on weekends.

Lockers

Small and large lockers are available for rental through the Registration Office.

ABOUT KIRK NEWMAN

The History of the Art School

Kirk Newman was born in Dallas, Texas in 1926 and began his artistic career experimenting with abstract sculpture and painting in the exciting post-World War II era. What increasingly intrigued him, however, was the human figure and how it could speak to the complexities of the modern world.

Newman began his exploration of the figure by creating small sculptures of anonymous businessmen. While their suits identified them as figures of power and authority, their crouching, falling, and grasping postures revealed vulnerability. Cast in bronze, the figures took on an unexpected timelessness.

As Newman’s focus shifted toward the whimsical and satirical, the figures suggested the inflated egos and social pretensions of their subjects. By the 1980s the businessmen, now distorted, flattened and shadow-like, conveyed the fast pace of contemporary life.

While widely recognized as a sculptor, Newman was also a dedicated educator. He came to Kalamazoo in 1949 as part of the University of Michigan’s extension program. Newman believed community art programs could be as stimulating and rewarding as those offered at the college level. He recruited a dedicated group of teachers to help develop the KIA art school.

When he left as Director of Education in 1978, the school that now bears his name had received national recognition. It continues to be an enduring presence in the cultural life of Kalamazoo. Mr. Newman passed away November 4, 2017.

Learn more about Kirk Newman