2024 OPEN HOUSE
Saturday November 2 1–5 pm
From the President
Welcome to Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University!
KCAD is a place of collaboration, where designers, artists, historians, makers, and problem solvers of all kinds come together to develop, explore, and move their potential forward.
If you choose to join our community, you will experience immersive learning opportunities that transcend the walls of the classroom, leading you to a broader and more in-depth understanding of your discipline and how it connects to the world. With over 95 years of experience, we empower designers and artists to understand and harness their creative abilities and transition that energy into a career that allows them to inform and transform the world.
I look forward to meeting you soon!
All good things,
Tara McCrackin KCAD President
Event Locations
1. KCAD Woodbridge N. Ferris Building 17 Pearl St. NW
2. KCAD 17 Fountain St. NW building 17 Fountain St. NW
Building entrance
Fulton St. W MonroeCenterNW
Program Workshops, Demonstrations and Presentations
see pages 8-11 for details
Don’t miss these exciting interactive events! You can visit each floor and interact with faculty and current students to learn more about what KCAD’s programs have to offer.
• Financial Aid Information and Q&A
• Portfolio Review/Admissions Q&A
• Resources for Students
• Coming Home ArtPrize '24 Exhibition — Spark Gallery
• Fragments to Form — Alumni Exhibition
• KCAD FlexLab — Digital Fabrication Tech
• Shop at The Spark — Supplies and Merch
• Sweet Treats from CakeBakery
Check-In
Check-In Starts 12:30 pm
Woodbridge N. Ferris Building, entrance 17 Fountain St. NW building, entrance
Please check in with KCAD staff just inside the entrance of either the 17 Fountain St. NW building or Woodbridge N. Ferris Building.
Information Sessions
TRACK ONE
Welcome to KCAD 1:00 pm
Boyer Hall
Woodbridge N. Ferris Building Room 217
President Tara McCrackin welcomes you to our creative community.
Learn About the KCAD Admissions Process 1:10 pm
Boyer Hall
Woodbridge N. Ferris Building Room 217
Our Admissions team is here to help you navigate the process of applying and answer any questions you might have.
Inside KCAD’s Student Life: Current Student Panel 1:30 pm
Boyer Hall
Woodbridge N. Ferris Building Room 217
Hear straight from current KCAD students about what life in our creative community is like.
TRACK TWO
Welcome to KCAD 3:00 pm
Boyer Hall
Woodbridge N. Ferris Building Room 217
President Tara McCrackin welcomes you to our creative community.
Learn About the KCAD Admissions Process 3:10 pm
Boyer Hall
Woodbridge N. Ferris Building Room 217
Our Admissions team is here to help you navigate the process of applying and answer any questions you might have.
Inside KCAD’s Student Life: Current Student Panel 3:30 pm
Boyer Hall
Woodbridge N. Ferris Building Room 217
Hear straight from current KCAD students about what life in our creative community is like.
Program Specific Events
All program-specific events are happening throughout the day — just drop by to participate!
Collaborative Design: The Inclusive Exchange
17 Fountain St. NW building Atrium
Join Collaborative Design in curating an exhibit space that invites folks to co-create a partnership for inclusive design.
Digital Art and Design: Digital Drawing Demos and Make Your Own Movie Trailer
17 Fountain St. NW building 7th Floor
Connect with Digital Art and Design faculty and see live demos of students in the program bringing their ideas to life in real-time with Cintiq digital drawing tablets. Also, create a movie trailer from scratch using our animation workstations and the professional recording gear in the KCAD Audio Lab.
Fashion Studies: Fashion Lab Tour and Clothing Repair Demo
Woodbridge N. Ferris Building
Explore the workspaces where Fashion Studies students bring their original garment designs to life and learn creative repair techniques to keep your favorite, well-worn garments out of the donation bin and in your closet.
Foundations First Year Experience: Student Work and
Creative Process Showcase
3rd Floor
17 Fountain St. NW building Room 613
Connect with faculty from the Foundations First Year Experience courses to see how they unite first-year KCAD students in a shared experience that strengthens their core creative skills and fosters community on campus.
Graphic Design: Faculty and Student Led Program Tour
17 Fountain St. NW building 4th Floor
Connect with Graphic Design faculty and see the spaces and tools students use to craft compelling visual communication and forge their own identity as designers.
Illustration: Meet-and-Greet, Creative Volunteer Activity, and Digital Painting Demos
17 Fountain St. NW building
Meet-and-Greet/Creative Volunteer Activity Room 322
Digital Painting Demos Room 315
Connect with Illustration faculty, explore the Illustration program area, and decorate a lunch bag to be filled with healthy sack suppers for local children in need by our friends at Kids' Food Basket. Elsewhere on the floor, faculty will also be doing live digital painting demos.
Interior Design: Meet-and-Greet and Color Palette Workshop
17 Fountain St. NW building 5th Floor
Connect with faculty and current students to see what life as a KCAD Interior Design student is like. Then, create a color and material palette for a mock client using actual samples from the Interior Design Resource Room.
Life Sciences and Pre-Medical Illustration: At the Intersection of Art and Science
17 Fountain St. NW building Room 318
Explore the world of medical illustration through student and professional work and see how our Life Sciences and Pre-Medical Illustration students go beyond art.
Master of Architecture: Form Finding Charrette and Model Making
17 Fountain St. NW building Room 502
Collaborate with current Master of Architecture students to create models of architectural structures using plaster, fabric, and gravity.
Photography: Facilities Tour
17 Fountain St. NW building 3rd Floor
Explore the wealth of creative resources available to Photography students, including an expansive lighting studio and fully equipped darkrooms for processing both black and white and color film/prints.
Product Design | Metals and Jewelry: Metals and Jewelry Studio Tour and Demos
17 Fountain St. NW building 2nd Floor
Connect with Product Design faculty and explore the expansive metals and jewelry studio full of specialized tools to design, cast, and shape wearable art.
Studio Arts | Painting: Painting Demos
17 Fountain St. NW building 6th Floor
Grab a brush and add your creativity to a large canvas that KCAD graduate students will be painting on in response to prompts centered around themes of identity and memory.
Studio Arts | Printmaking: Printmaking Studio Tour
17 Fountain St. NW building 3rd Floor
Explore the KCAD Printmaking studio and see KCAD students bringing their creative ideas to live in this highly collaborative space.
Studio Arts | Sculpture: Ceramic Studio Tour and Demos
Woodbridge N. Ferris Building Garden Level
Join Studio Arts faculty in the Ceramic Studio and see how our student use throwing wheels, kilns, and other tools to give form to their ideas.
Drop-In Events
All drop-in events will be ongoing throughout the day — feel free to stop by whenever!
Financial Aid Information and Q&A
Woodbridge N. Ferris Building 2nd Floor
Our Financial Aid team will help you understand your options when it comes to funding your education, demystify the FAFSA, and help you uncover opportunities you may not be aware of.
Portfolio Reviews | Admissions Q&A
Woodbridge N. Ferris Building Room 221
Get feedback on your work with a supportive, pressure-free portfolio review. Our Admissions staff will also be available to answer any questions you might have about applying to KCAD.
Coming Home: ArtPrize 2024 Exhibition
17 Fountain St. NW building 1st Floor
Coming Home features work in various mediums from thirteen artists and celebrates their roles in shaping global art and design conversations.
Fragments to Form: Alumni Exhibition
Woodbridge N. Ferris Building FLEXgallery, 1st Floor
Design Declassified collaborators and KCAD alumni Jared Seifert and Lauren Copping are using the FLEXgallery as an incubator to highlight their versatile sheet material made entirely from recycled plastic.
KCAD FLEXlab: Explore Digital Fabrication
Woodbridge N. Ferris Building 1st Floor
Check out the cutting-edge 3D printers, 3D scanners, laser cutters, and other fab lab tech KCAD students have access to.
Sweet Treats from Cakebakery
Woodbridge N. Ferris Building 1st Floor
Upon check-in, every guest will receive a ticket for a free and undeniably delicious slice of pie from our friends at Cakebakery.
17 FOUNTAIN BUILDING
7th Floor
Home to the Digital Art and Design program, the 7th floor features an audio recording studio, 3D animation lab, Cintiq drawing lab, audio/video production lab, and green screen capture room.
6th Floor
Studio Arts students learn and create in a number of spacious facilities on the 6th floor, including painting and drawing studios and Gallery 602, where an ever-changing collection of student artwork is shared with the community.
5th Floor
The 5th floor is home to the Collaborative Design, Master of Architecture, Product Design, and Interior Design programs. Facilities include an array of studio space, design and drawing classrooms, and the Baker Furniture Collection, an open and immense collection of historical and contemporary pieces that serves as a vital student resource
4th Floor
The Graphic Design program occupies the 4th floor, which features a host of classrooms and tech labs as well as a full-service printing lab. The floor is filled with spaces that spark collaboration and problem solving between students and faculty.
3rd Floor
The 3rd floor is the domain of the Illustration, Life Sciences and Pre-Medical Illustration, Photography, and Studio Arts programs. Featured facilities include studios for undergraduate students, a large printmaking lab that caters to a wide variety of processes, fully-equipped photography and lighting studios, a large format digital printer, and two full darkrooms — one for color film and another for black and white film.
2nd Floor
The 2nd floor houses the Product Design program, In addition to a number of classrooms, this floor also contains a fully outfitted metals and jewelry design studio. It also houses the KCAD Library, which places a wide variety of visual and digital resources right at students’ fingertips.
1st Floor
The 1st floor features the Spark Gallery that hosts an ever-changing lineup of exhibitions, and the Spark, a collaborative and energetic retail space that features handmade goods from a diversity of local artists and makers.
Lower Level
The lower level houses the Student Commons, studio Spaces for the Collaborative Design and Product Design programs, student storage lockers, and a full-service woodshop featuring over 30 pieces of equipment including table saws, sanders, a fully-ventilated walk-in spray paint and glue room, and more.
WOODBRIDGE N. FERRIS BUILDING
In the early 2000s, KCAD began the long process of acquiring and renovating the Historic Federal Building at the corner of Pearl and Division in downtown Grand Rapids. In the fall of 2012, the building’s dazzling LEED-certified renovation was revealed to the public. All of the building’s historical Beaux-Arts aesthetics were preserved, while the interior was outfitted to meet the demands of the 21st century.
4th Floor
This floor includes classroom space for the Fashion Studies program as well as staff and administrative offices..
3rd Floor
The 3rd floor is home to the Pamella Roland DeVos School of Fashion. Here, students in the Fashion Studies program have access to a number of resources, materials, and tools like industrial sewing machines and dress forms.
2nd Floor
Art History and General Education comprise most of the second floor. Also featured are two lecture halls, both of which were formerly courtrooms. The larger of the two, Boyer Hall, is outfitted with a full-service audio/visual command center and is now used to host visiting speakers and public discourse events, while the smaller room, 221, hosts Art History lectures.
1st Floor
The 1st floor is home to The Dow Center FLEXlab, a state-of-the-art digital fabrication facility that puts a wealth of innovative technology at your fingertips, including 3D printers and scanners, laser and vinyl-cutting machines, wide-format printers, and more; the FLEXgallery, a processfocused gallery space that showcases a wide variety of fine art and design programming; and the Metal Sculpture Studio, featuring welding equipment, a hydraulic metalworking tools, metals saws and sanders, a lathe, and more.
Garden Level
The Garden level features KCAD's expansive Ceramic Studios, featuring a main room with 16 throwing wheels, a slab roller, slip casting equipment, and extruders; a clay mixing room for clay and glaze formulations; a spray booth for applying glaze finishes, and a large kiln room with four electric kilns and one walk-in kiln.
17 Fountain St. NW
Grand Rapids, MI 49503
kcad.edu
Ferris State University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion or creed, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, veteran or military status, height, weight, protected disability, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by applicable State or federal laws or regulations in education, employment, housing, public services, or other University operations, including, but not limited to, admissions, programs, activities, hiring, promotion, discharge, compensation, fringe benefits, job training, classification, referral, or retention. Retaliation against any person making a charge, filing a legitimate complaint, testifying, or participating in any discrimination investigation or proceeding is prohibited.
Students with disabilities requiring assistance or accommodation may contact Educational Counseling & Disabilities Services at (231) 591-3057 in Big Rapids, or the Director of Counseling, Disability & Tutoring Services for Kendall College of Art and Design at (616) 299-3046 in Grand Rapids. Employees and other members of the University community with disabilities requiring assistance or accommodation may contact the Human Resources Department, 420 Oak St., Big Rapids, MI 49307 or call (231) 591-2150.
Inquiries or complaints of discrimination may be addressed to the Director of Equal Opportunity, 120 East Cedar St., Big Rapids, MI 49307 or by telephone at (231) 591-2152; or Title IX Coordinator, 805 Campus Dr., Big Rapids, MI 49307, or by telephone at (231) 591-2088.