Mentoring at the Kansas City Art Insititute

Lyn and I had the privilege of mentoring 4 students from the Kansas City Art Institute for the last three years and two of them graduated this year. Amanda Michael (in the black) and Violet Zadoyan (in the pink).

We love mentoring and giving back to the design community. Over the years, we’ve refined our program. Essentially, we work alongside the Art Institute’s design program and equip students with tools to cultivate focus, build emotional regulation, and nurture authentic creative expression.

They reduce burnout and creative paralysis by learning to prioritize and creatively move through fear, discover how to navigate relationships and self-awareness within the design process, and also how to create from the inside out and discover their personal Essence and unique design impact.

Through reflection, interactive dialogue, and creative exercises, students learn to move through fears and blocks to creativity, de-escalate stress and people-pleasing, while cultivating a strong internal compass to guide their design voice. We do provide design critiques as needed.

So fun to see you both graduate, Amanda and Violet! You can check out their portfolios here: Amanda Michael | Violet Zadoyan