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The KCAI Underground is the Art Supply Store, Mailroom, and Print Center of the Kansas City Art Institute. We sell a range of top-quality art supplies, official KCAI merchandise, and offer convenient Mailroom and Print Center services to support artists and students alike.

We accept various payment methods, including credit/debit cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover), PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Shop Pay, KCAI Underground gift cards, and debit accounts.

Orders are typically processed and shipped within 1-3 business days after payment confirmation, excluding weekends and holidays. Shipping times vary depending on your location and the shipping method selected at checkout.

Yes, we offer international shipping to select countries. Please note that international orders may be subject to customs clearance procedures and import duties, which are the responsibility of the recipient.

We want you to be completely satisfied with your purchase. If for any reason you are not satisfied, you may return the item(s) within 30 days of receipt for a full refund or exchange, excluding shipping costs. Items must be unused and in their original condition and packaging.

You can reach our customer support team via email at [email protected], by phone at 816-802-3349, or through the live chat feature available on our website during our regular business hours.

Yes, The KCAI Underground is located on the campus of the Kansas City Art Institute. Our address is 4421 Warwick Blvd. We are in the lower level of the Tony Jones Studios.

During the academic year, our hours are:

Monday through Thursday 8:30 am to 7 pm

Friday 8:30 am to 5 pm

Saturday CLOSED

Sunday Noon to 5 PM

During Summer, Spring and Winter Breaks, our hours are:

Monday through Friday 8:30 pm to 5 pm

Saturday and Sunday CLOSED

Yes!

But, please be aware, our first priority will always be to the students, staff and faculty of KCAI with our alumni coming in a very close second.

15-minute parking is available to Underground customers in the campus’s southwest lot. If you expect your visit to take longer, be aware that campus parking is limited.

The Mailroom is part of the KCAI Underground which also houses the KCAI Art Supply Store and Print Center. The Underground is located below The Tony Jones Studios of Illustration and Animation. Here is a downloadable map of the campus to help better locate us.

The KCAI Underground Mailroom public hours are:

Monday through Friday 8:30 AM to 5 PM

Saturday and Sunday CLOSED

The Mailroom is not open and does not accept mail or packages on the weekend and is closed all major holidays.

The packages lockers located in the lobby of The KCAI Underground. The lockers are available 24/7 for those with an active KCAI ID card; students, staff and faculty.

Letter Mail - letter mail will be stored behind the counter of the Art Supply Store and held for pick up. You will receive a notification to pick up your mail. Please be sure to have your KCAI ID when you are retrieving your mail. You can ask the clerk at the counter to check to see if you have mail at any time during business hours.

Packages - will be stored in the package lockers located in the lobby of The KCAI Underground. Oversized packages will be stored behind the counter of the Art Supply Store.. Your email notification will let you know that you have received a package, and instructions for picking it up.

Important – your package pick up notification coming from The KCAI Underground is the only notification that indicates your package is ready for retrieval on campus.

You will receive an email notification. It will tell you if you have letter mail or a package, and where to pick it up.

All packages sent to KCAI are routed through the Mailroom. When we receive a package, it is scanned and an email notification is sent to the recipient’s KCAI email informing them that the package is ready for pick up. 

Please refrain from attempting to pick up any packages until you have received an email notification from The KCAI Underground. Attempting to pick up packages before they are fully processed by mailroom staff will delay package delivery for all.

Letters and packages will only be accepted for current students, staff, or faculty with an active KCAI email account or those listed as currently attending a program hosted by KCAI. All other mail or packages will be returned to the sender.

The correct address and format for all mail and packages is as follows:

First Name, Last Name

Kansas City Art Institute

4415 Warwick Blvd.

Kansas City, MO 64111

The name on the package or letter should match the preferred name of the recipient as it is listed with the school. The Kansas City Art Institute makes every effort to utilize preferred names. Known legal and dead names are stored as aliases.

The address of 4415 Warwick Blvd. is the official address of the Kansas City Art Institute. Any packages or mail addressed to any other address will experience delayed processing or be deemed undeliverable by the courier.

Letters and packages may be sent from the checkout counter located in the Art Store/Mailroom. USPS, UPS, or FedEx pick up and drop off from our location every weekday.

Shipping supplies such as boxes, bubble wrap, and padded envelopes are available for purchase. But, we encourage you to go green and check the Art Cycle Station in the lobby for reclaimed box first.

Stamps and other postage are sold behind the counter. Our staff can walk you through the best way to ship your package and compare between carriers for the best rate and delivery date.

If you have a prepaid label you would like us to print, for example for an Amazon return, download it here. There is a 10¢ fee for each page printed.

Yes. Stamps and other forms of postage are available for purchase behind the counter of the Art Supply Store.

Choose your envelope or postcard. The KCAI Art Supply Store sells standard envelopes and art postcards if you do not already have one on hand.

Address your envelope or postcard. Write your address (the "return" or "sender" address) in the top left corner. Write the delivery address (the "recipient" address) in the bottom center.

Postcards come in different formats, so write the delivery address in the space it gives you (on the same side you write your message and put the stamp).

Calculate and apply postage. Postage for letters mostly depends on weight and size/shape. As a rule of thumb, you can send a 1 oz letter (4 sheets of regular 8-1/2" x 11" paper and a business-sized envelope) for 1 First-Class Mail® Forever® stamp (currently $0.68).

If you do not have any stamps on hand, Stamps and other forms of postage are available for purchase behind the counter of the Art Supply Store.

Place your stamp(s) on the upper right corner of the envelope.

A standard postcard stamp costs $0.44. (Large or square postcards will cost more.) Put the postcard stamp in the space provided near the delivery address.

Send your letter. Once your envelope or postcard has the correct address and postage, you can send it by dropping it off at the counter of the Art Supply Store, or depositing it in the after hours package drop in The KCAI Underground lobby.

The cost of sending a package is determined by dimensions, weight, and destination. We can help you with this in the store. We ship and receive USPS, FedEx or UPS daily.

The Mailroom receives mail from the USPS carrier daily, it is sorted by name and placed in the appropriate letter mail folder behind the counter of the Art Supply Store. Students will receive a notification that they have received letter mail, and it can be picked up during normal business hours of the Mailroom.

All mail not claimed by the end of the academic year is returned to the sender after Commencement.

At the end of the Spring semester (after Commencement and Move-out), all letter mail will be returned to the sender. Mail received during June, July, or August will be forwarded by the Mailroom as requested. To request mail forwarding fill out this form.

There are no restrictions on what can be sent or received however, all KCAI students, staff, and faculty are urged to do their part to reduce the amount of junk mail received and processed by the mailroom. Please switch to online bill delivery with your medical provider and bank, get rid of prescreened credit offers by going to OptOutPrescreen.com, and eliminate any unnecessary catalogs via CatalogChoice.

Hand trucks are available for loan in order to move large packages around campus. Hand trunks may not be taken off campus.

Student residents of Barbara Marshall Residence Hall may send packages 1 week before their move-in date. Packages received before move-in will be delivered directly to the student's room. This is a one-time, situational delivery. All packages delivered after this date will need to be picked up by the student themselves.

All packages delivered to the Mailroom are processed, scanned and logged into our package tracking system. Automated e-mails are sent to the recipients KCAI email once the package is processed. If the package is oversized the notification email will require the student to retrieve package in the Mailroom.

Recipients must wait until they receive an e-mail from the KCAI Underground before coming to the Mailroom. Delivery e-mails from vendors like Amazon do not necessarily mean your package is available for pick-up.

All students must present a valid student ID or driver’s license to pick up packages at the Mailroom. If your student ID is lost or stolen, please see Campus Safety to process a new I.D. Card. To pick up packages at the Package lockers, you will simply need to follow the instructions in the email notification.

If a package is tracked and scheduled to arrive on the weekend, it will be held by the carrier until the next available business (school) day and delivered when the Mailroom is open. You must wait for the e-mail from the Mailroom to be able to claim your package.

The Mailroom does not have refrigeration. “Perishable” items that need refrigeration will be held for 48 hours before being disposed of. Students will still receive an automated email notification system that a package has arrived for them.

The package lockers can be programmed for recipients to access their packages with certain accommodations to make retrieval easier. The Mailroom will work with Student Services and Human Resources to facilitate those accommodations when necessary, or the recipient may ask directly.