After a long, cramped bus ride back from Apac to Kampala (via Lira), the American participants were ecstatic to return to Kampala and relax for the evening. Monday’s visit to Nagenda International Academy of Art and Design (NIAAD) was a great way to start the week. NIAAD was started by Kizito Maria Kasule, a Ugandan artist that turned down offers for work abroad to return to his home country and build an arts academy. Kizito has financed the construction of the academy solely through the sale of his paintings – he anticipates that the academy will open in March of 2008.
Participants were seated in the nearly complete academy classroom, on woven mats with cups of loose tea and popcorn, surrounded by Kizito's beautiful oil paintings, which were propped against the walls. He provided a thoughtful overview of art history in Uganda, focusing on the destruction of traditional art during the colonial period, a renaissance with the establishment of Makerere University, and its steep decling under Idi Amin's brutal reign.

Kizito also discussed the need for practical-oriented education - an approach he is using in curriculum design for NIAAD. In response to problems of conflict and the separation between north and south in Uganda, NIAAD will also provide art therapy as a core subject, training Ugandans to excel in this vocation and contributing to the achievement of peace in the reconciliation process.