We will be leading a walk around the Kansas City Art Institute in memoriam of the trees that no longer stand on campus. Through a variety of prompts, we will share stories and experiences of times we felt connected to our environment, while acknowledging the changing environment around us by learning about the trees that used to be on campus, and paying our respects to them by leaving mementos at the places where they once stood.

The walk will be no longer than 0.3 miles and take 45 minutes. As we will be walking outside, prepare for the weather accordingly. Wear clothes for warmer weather and comfortable shoes suitable for walking. If it storms, the walk will be postponed until Sunday, May 11, at the same time. If there is light rainfall, we will prepare accordingly and ask participants to bring their own raincoats, umbrellas, and appropriate shoes.

About the Artists

Kate Sutton grew up in rural Iowa and spent her days exploring the fields and rolling hills around her. Her work is informed by her upbringing on a farm, where she was homeschooled and often isolated by the landscape. Using themes of nostalgia and grief, she acknowledges the complex and often conflicting feelings of a child growing up. Kate is a ceramics student at KCAI using wall tiles to depict childhood memories which are simultaneously full of deep pain and immense love. Using photos, journal entries, and objects of affection from her childhood, she pieces together a patchwork landscape of growing up.

Lizzie Ingram is originally from Saint Louis, Missouri, but is currently working towards her Bachelor's in Fine Arts at the Kansas City Art Institute. She is a ceramicist using the vessel for illustrative narrative surfaces, reflecting the possibilities of worldbuilding and storytelling with clay. She aims to remind viewers of all ages of their worldly relationships and dynamics, and how tender relationships exist in our unstable world. Lizzie received the 2024 McKeown Special Project Award from the Ceramics Department to travel back to her hometown to demonstrate underglaze monoprinting to high-schoolers. She looks forward to supporting her community demoing in workshop settings and teaching young, growing artists.