About the Founding Director

Kizito Maria Kasule (CRMDA, BAFA, MAFA, Ph.D.) is a painter, sculptor, art historian and professor based in Kampala, Uganda. After graduating from Makerere University in 1992, he began teaching art at both Makerere and at St. Charles Rwanga Bukerere School. Upon receiving his MFA in Sculpture in 1997, he was appointed a full lecturer at Makerere. He received his Ph.D . in Art History in 2003.

Kizito's first solo show opened in 1994 to great accolades and was visited by the King of Buganda. Since then, Kizito has continued to showcase his works in Uganda, and has garnered significant international experience and attention. In 1997, the European Union invited him to participate in a group exhibition at the Botanical Gardens in Brussels. Through the support of the Ford Foundation Kizito spent several months in Kenya creating sculptures that are now on display at the National Gallery in Nairobi. From 2003-2005, he received a scholarship to pursue an MFA in painting at Ireland's Baron College of Art. His works have been shown in Vancouver at the National Gallery of Canada; in South Africa, at the Johannesburg Art Biannual show and the Bonone Festival at University of Umtata; and in Namibia , Botswana, Zimbabwe, France, and Holland. His first major US show will open in May 2006 at Sankaranka Gallery in New York.

Born in October 1967, Kizito spent much of his childhood on the streets of Kampala and worked from a young age to put himself through school. He first conceived of the Nagenda International Academy of Art and Design in 2003. Kizito envisions a world-class school, gallery and retreat center where students from Uganda, regardless of their background, will have the chance to learn traditional and cutting-edge artistic techniques in a supportive environment. Construction of NIAAD broke ground in 2005 and its studios and dormitories are slated to officially open in 2008. Every month, Kizito purchases a few thousand more bricks to use in the construction of the school. In the meantime, he continues to teach, paint and sculpt.