Charlie Egan (courtesy of the Kansas City Art Institute)
A fierce advocate for the Kansas City Art Institute, he masterminded the institution’s financial turnaround in the 1990s
Charles (Charlie) Egan, Jr., a prominent Kansas City attorney, died on June 10, 2024, at the age of 91. Egan’s obituary listed his stint in the Marines, his degrees from Harvard University and the Columbia School of Law, as well as the work he did with clients like Hallmark and the Hall Family. It also noted his presence on the boards of several schools, including the Kansas City Art Institute.
What it didn’t mention was the key role he played in keeping KCAI afloat during a tough financial stretch in the 1990s. Charlie Sosland was chairman of the board at the time. Egan served as its treasurer. Sosland still remembers the way his “no nonsense” colleague took action. “Enrollment was down substantially . . . enough that the school was in the red, and Charlie wanted to fix that. He realized that some hard things had to be done. And they weren’t popular things.”
The college instituted a variety of cost cutting measures, including a freeze on faculty salaries. In 1996, when Kathleen Collins arrived in Kansas City, the Art Institute’s new president was struck by the gravity of its fiscal situation. Egan, she recalls, provided the steadfast support she needed to turn things around. “He was very clear minded, razor sharp and didn’t take any bull****,” she says.
Ronald Cattelino, the Art Institute’s CFO during that time, remembers Egan as “focused” and “engaged,” always asking the kind of “smart” questions that the two would discuss at length. “He became very knowledgeable about all the operations of the college,” Catellino says. “Then he could go to the board or the executive committee and tell them ‘we need X and here’s why.’”
Ultimately, Egan’s plans involved more than simply trimming expenses. He was equally determined to increase revenues. Dramatically. He helped launch a campaign to shore up the college’s $9 million endowment. By 2008, it had grown to more than $36 million. Meanwhile, an ambitious capital campaign helped fuel a small building boom on the KCAI campus. And the enrollment grew along with it. “Charlie liked to say that ‘fundraising was a contact sport,’” Sosland chuckles.
Thanks to his long association with Hallmark, Egan developed strong ties with members of the Hall family, including Barbara Hall Marshall and her daughter, Margaret Silva. Both were already staunch supporters of KCAI, but he convinced them to steer even more philanthropic funds its way. “Barbara had so much confidence in Charlie,” Collins says. “She knew that he was honest and would always do the right thing.” David Hughes, founder and director emeritus of the Charlotte Street Foundation, concurs. As a member of the Art Institute’s board, Hughes says he witnessed a man who was both “formal” and “ferocious in his advocacy for KCAI.”
Egan also played a prominent role at the Stanley Durwood Foundation. Since its formation in 2004, the Durwood Foundation has regularly made contributions to fund new programs and endowments at the college. Perhaps most notable is the Durwood Internship Program, a “win-win” arrangement providing hundreds of KCAI students the opportunity to work with (and learn from) professionals at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.
“Charlie was a very private man,” Collins says, noting that she stayed in touch with him well after her tenure was done. “He did things because he believed in them. He didn’t do them to get credit.”
The Kansas City Art Institute will host a Celebration of Life on October 12 at 2 pm at Vanderslice Hall & Epperson Auditorium. Event details and reflections on his impact at KCAI can be found at kcai.edu/about/kcai-news/Honoring-Charlie-Egans-Legacy-at-KCAI/
