KyCAD | Student Trip to Venice, Italy

Kentucky College of Art + Design students will be living and learning in Venice, Italy in Spring 2026. La Serenissima, the serene city, and the Venice Biennale international art exhibition will serve as open air classrooms for KyCAD faculty, who will teach courses in Contemporary Art History and Studio Art. KyCAD students will be immersed in the culture and life of Italy as they study and make art.

Contemporary art is thriving in Venice. The world’s oldest and always contemporary art fair, the Venice Biennale, which takes place in free-standing national pavilions in the Giardini as well as in the massive Arsenale, is the motivation for a student educational experience in Venice. 

Venice itself is an immersive experience, full of extraordinary art and architecture, where Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, and Contemporary design share space. Peggy Guggenheim turned the venerable Palazzo Venier dei Leoni into a showcase of Modern art and now shares the neighborhood with the Pinault Foundation, for whom Pritzker Prize winning architect Tadao Ando have transformed the Palazzo Grassi and the Punta della Dogana (a former warehouse) into stunning venues for contemporary art. Dotted along the Piazza San Marco is the Olivetti Showroom by mid-century master Carlo Scarpa, Phillippe Starck’s wallpaper designs for Grancafe Quadri, as well as Pritzker Prize winner David Chipperfield’s brand new redesign of a section of the city hall.

This journey will provide KyCAD students with invaluable firsthand experiences that will shape their artistic practice and broaden their global perspective. Your generosity helps ensure that each of our 14 students can take part in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, gaining direct access to the rich history, vibrant culture, and cutting-edge contemporary art of Venice. 

To make this possible, donations directly support essential per-student costs, including:

• $100- Venice Biennale 2 week pass 
• $150- Museum and church entry fees
• $1,800 - Air Transportation  
• $1,800- Housing 
• $3,800- One students entire trip! 

Thank you for helping bring this transformative experience to life for our students—any donation makes a difference.

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KyCAD is a private, nonprofit institution offering an intensively taught interdisciplinary program with a subject-led approach to research and practice that builds relevance and engagement around the role of the artist. It is also the only independent college of art + design in the commonwealth. Headquartered in one of America’s most architecturally significant historic districts, the Kentucky College of Art + Design is an innovative institution driven by a staff, faculty and board of trustees that are passionate about the rigorous academic work we do, the students we serve and the larger community we inhabit.