Kansas City Architectural Foundation
KCAF History in a Nutshell
1984-2004
Incorporation
After the 1979 National American Institute of Architects (AIA) Convention was held in KC, AIA Kansas City Chapter netted approximately $20,000 in funds. In 1981 or 1982, Kite Singleton, Mike Fickle and Cindy Frewen Wuellner were appointed by the AIA Executive Committee as a task force to develop the Foundation’s initial mission and bylaws for incorporation. They worked with Clem Fairchild, legal counsel for AIA Kansas City. The incorporation was completed in 1984, although the new Board began meeting in 1983. We have the original board meeting minutes, and a copy of the bylaws, to document the members.
Leadership
In 1983, Fred Truog was the first President and the 7-person Board included four architects (Clarence Kivett, David Brey, Mike Fickel and Fred Truog), Linda Young and two community members—Bill Bruning and John Hoffman. Tom Nelson served as President from 1990 to 1992; Dan Musser, 1992-1997; and Frank Zilm, 1997-2000; and Cindy Frewen Wuellner, 2001-2004. Our 1-page brochure gives a complete list of Board Members.
1980s Activities
Very early, the Board invited a large gathering of civic leaders to brainstorm the ideas for the Foundation. On October 4, 1984, 23 people including Jane Flynn, David Boutros, Paul Copaken, Linda Gill (Taylor), Ginny Graves, Cyd Millstein, Bill Shapiro, and many members of the architecture community discussed the role of the Foundation. Ideas ranged from education to audience; advocacy such as saving important buildings to working with the KC Artists Coalition; urban issues to teaching teachers. Along with the 1992 Long Range Plan, these notes make for interesting background.
In 1985, Jody Edgerton facilitated a couple of sessions for a two-year plan. In 1987, a survey of AIA members was completed. Mike Fickel had a “Commitment to the Built Environment” award idea that sounds a lot like the Legends; possible names were reviewed in 1988 but there is no record of recognitions made. Ginny Graves joined the board at that time, and over the next four years, CUBE was the focus of the Foundation.
At one point, the Urban Design Awards were co-sponsored by the Foundation, in collaboration with the Municipal Arts Commission. An affordable housing competition was also sponsored. The AIA and KCAF did something for the AIA Centennial – Kirk Gastinger was involved.
Memorial Funds
In 1989, Linda Young passed away, and a special fund was initiated. Over the years, a lecture series or an endowment were discussed. Some money was also given in David Brey’s name and a later fund for Bruce Patty, so that gifts totaled approximately $17,000 in the memorial account. Two other significant amounts were given to the Scholarship fund, with Kratz being a named Scholarship. Gary Nevius spearheaded a fund for Bruce McKenzie around 2000 that raised another $9-10,000, which was designated for Scholarships.
The largest gift has been from Clarence Kivett’s will that represents a 50/50 split between KU School of Architecture and KCAF. The account amount is reported annually to the AIA office, and actual proceeds will be based on what remains upon the death of Ancely Swade (friend of Kivett’s), a former KCAF Board Member. Consequently, the QuickBooks accounts show an additional $250,000 that KCAF does not currently control and that the GKCCF fund does not show.
CUBE 1988-1992
Ginny Graves’ time on the Board reflects the years that the Board was involved with incubating CUBE. During those years, the consistently $20,000 fund jumped to $90,000, due to income and expenses each year, without any net gain. Meeting minutes discuss setting up the CUBE office at AIA Kansas City, and hiring the first people, which has to represent one of the best uses the KCAF could do—but might have left the group feeling lost. In 1992, anticipating that CUBE would become a separate 501(c)3, a series of roundtable sessions took place for a ‘long range plan’ of 1992-1994. In 1992, when CUBE spun off, the fund was again around $20,000.
Past AIA Kansas City President as Ex Officio Member
This role is first noted in 1990, with Kirk Gastinger as the first member. This may have occurred to fill the gap from Linda Young’s passing, in order to keep the communication and coordination between KCAF and AIA Kansas City. From that point on, Past Presidents served for some time as the liaison on the KCAF Board, although all AIA Kansas City Executive Directors have also served along side the Ex Officio member. This seems like a good practice to have the Executive Director involved and knowledgeable, but not necessarily responsible for a seat on the Board full time, so that role can fluctuate according to people and situations.
Scholarship Committee
In 1991, Frank Zilm as President of AIA Kansas City began the Scholarship Committee, and asked Cindy Frewen Wuellner as AIA Kansas City Treasurer, Richard Farnan, and Paul Jorgensen to begin the committee with him. During the 1990s the KCAF fund grew due to donations specifically to Scholarship. Frank discovered that the Foundation had left the funds in T-bills and was not gaining from the incredible bull market. The Foundation Board after CUBE was nearly inactive, and went without meetings some years. In 1997, Frank became President of KCAF, and Cindy took over the Scholarship Chair.
Late 1990s Activities
In 1999, the Legends program was started under Frank’s purview. Five people were recognized at an event at Gould Evans offices. As a fund raiser and to raise awareness of the buildings, architectural prints of KC landmarks were assembled by David Boutros and Frank, and approximately 30 framed images were displayed. These later spent a year or two on display around the city, primarily at the Commerce Tower Gallery in the connecting semi-public corridor.
A couple of calls for grants occurred during this time frame as well, which amounted to small amounts to individual projects. The notecards were printed in 2000 and records exist regarding those costs, but it seems like it was around $2500. The prints just broke even, at around $6500 costs and income.
Financial
In 1997, KCAF fund was around $90,000 again, with $20,000 in the general fund and memorials, and $70,000 in Scholarship. It was moved into a Piper Jaffrey account where it jumped significantly in the next three years to a peak of $140,000 or so. Starting in the summer 2000, it lost $23,000 in one quarter (as did the whole market), with such poor record keeping that it was not clear if the money was spent or lost on the market investments.
Consequently, in early 2001, the fund was around $100,000, and it finally bottomed at $82,000 in 2002. We took immediate steps to move the accounts into less volatile stocks and moved it to the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation in summer 2001. This group now manages the money, based on our choices, which so far, we have used their fund management team’s recommendations.
At that time, we created detailed accounts of the prior financial activities, which remain our best knowledge of the various funds. When we moved to GKCCF, it was all rolled into a single fund. In 2003, Dawn Kirkwood, as Treasurer, opened a checking account, and set up the financial statements in Quickbooks so that detailed accounts are again feasible. How these accounts are organized for tracking the various activities may still need some tweaking.
2000s Activities
We inherited a good amount of ideas and a little confusion, with the fund sinking fast and a less-than-stellar collaboration with the AIA Kansas City Design Awards/Legends program. In 2001, we set up policies, assembled records, and created new bylaws, which were filed in 2002. Months were spent with numerous phone calls and meetings to assemble the documents, which ultimately were largely in the storeroom at AIA Kansas City in five boxes, but we called everywhere looking for original bylaws. In early 2002, with Dawn Kirkwood’s new role as AIA/KC Executive Director, these were moved to WHMC-KC under David Boutros’ watch.
To fulfill the Foundation’s mission in public education and to honor additional Legends, KCAF collaborated with KC Design Center in the fall of 2001 on a major event at the Folly. John Knott, ULI Developer of the Year for sustainable projects in Charleston was the key note speaker. This established a pattern for a similar event in 2003. Although initially, it seemed important to play catch up on recognizing numerous people for their roles in building KC, the number of viable candidates for Legends is becoming thinner, and we have recently taken a policy of less people, going from 5-6, to 2-3 and hosting the event every 18 months. It will be conceivable in the near term that some years a single member is elevated.
Current State of KCAF
The last Legends event featured an excellent speaker with Tom McDonnell, and raised $20,000, largely due to the efforts of Jim Calcara, and also the Board. The attendance was primarily civic leaders, but not a huge crowd. To do fund-raising with savvy institutions, we need prepared KCAF packages of solid information.
The location for permanent Legends recognition can be a new project. We had posters printed of each Legend, which are either at the AIA office or at WHMC. But a wall or walk or public place should be considered.
Many architects do not truly understand the relationship with the Scholarship Committee, AIA Kansas City, KCDC and CUBE. This needs continual attention, and a formalized policy, as is underway with the joint task force. We published a lot of articles on Scholarships during the 1990s, but no longer have the Exchange as a venue. For the Legends, we issued dozens of press releases, which got an article in the Star, and a couple of other places. Still, KCAF remains very low profile.
Scholarship is undergoing change under Marvin Manlove’s leadership and as such, we have added him to the Board to further coordinate that. Established initially with minimal resources, we were happily giving $500-$1500 grants with a rare spike to $2500, to 5-8 recipients annually. Marvin wants to do less Scholarships for greater amounts; the policy change warrants discussion and monitoring. Furthermore, records on past recipients is waning, and should be constructed quickly, as those architects could be our best reason for the existence of KCAF, as well as our future contributors. Frank proved this through his significant gifts and leadership, inspired by the generosity and impact that St Louis Architectural Foundation had on his career.
The KCAF funds are now very stable and again nearing $140,000, with a solid group of leaders and the legal and financial affairs in order. We have a greater profile in the community due to the public events, have aided over 70 worthy students, and have recognized important contributors that have built our great city.