‘Cam was the Dude’

“The Dude,” “Chief,” “Deckhand,” “King of Beers,” even just “Cam.” That’s how people remembered Kenai Peninsula College’s late Associate Professor of Art Cambid-J “Cam” Choy during a memorial art show on Friday, Sept. 13.

“He didn’t like to be called professor,” said Brandi Kerley, interim gallery director and a former colleague and student of Choy’s. “Cam was the Dude.”

Choy died on July 1 at the age of 58. He taught a variety of art classes at KPC for over a decade and directed the college art gallery. He was also a commercial fisherman and a member of the Soldotna Rotary Club.

Since Choy’s passing, KPC Director Cheryl Siemers said on Friday, the college has received an outpouring of support from his students and the community. Those messages came from across the nation, which Siemers called a testament to his reach and impact.

Choy showed students how to find a passion for art, Siemers said, but also drove students to envision where those skills can take them personally and professionally.

His unique way of pushing students and colleagues forward, Siemers said, was best exemplified by a story they heard from one of those students. The student said that, once while stuck in their work, Choy told her to take the whole piece and flip it upside down.

“Look at it from a new perspective,” Siemers said.

To honor Choy, Kerley curated a show in the college’s Gary L. Freeburg Gallery titled “In Memoriam: The Lasting Legacy of Cam Choy.”

She said that the gallery is a showcase of work by both Choy and his students, a reflection of the way that he pushed the people around him “to be more creative, more daring than we ever thought we could be.”

Choy’s work, Kerley said, is a “love affair” with the human form. Displayed in the gallery are detailed depictions of the human body — in motion or at rest.

Where Choy’s works fill the college’s gallery, the work of his students spill out on the walls outside, stretching to the McLane Commons. Those works by Choy’s students are each accompanied by a reflection on his teachings.

Nitamarie Jackson wrote of the casual way Choy would encourage her to leave a piece of herself in her work.

Jason Ramirez writes that Choy’s encouragement led him to become an artist, that Choy showed him to be proud of his work for the first time.

Sadie Sprenger wrote that Choy got involved, “didn’t watch from the bleachers.”

Kerley said that Choy brought a laid back, philosophical approach to both life and the classroom. She said that he led by example, working alongside the students and learning himself regardless of the medium.

“If Cam was asking you to do something, he was going to walk alongside you,” she said.

That approach was part of Choy’s work to bring down barriers and get more people creating art, especially women, Kerley said. Especially in mediums like sculpture and metalwork, she said, women are underrepresented.

“Cam was really focused on encouraging female representation in the arts,” she said. “He was really looking to foster that growth and development. It didn’t matter if you were interested in art, he was going to show you how to do it. He was going to encourage you to be creative.”

When Choy first came to KPC, in 2013, Kerley said she was skeptical at the time of a new voice after much time spent with his predecessor, Celia Anderson.

It was that approach, “quintessentially Cam,” that overcame doubts and led KPC’s art program to develop over the last decade. Kerley said that Choy drove an explosion of three-dimensional programming, where much of KPC’s courses once were rooted more in painting and photography. Choy brought clay, wax, plaster, even steel, Kerley said.

Siemers said that Choy’s sense of experimentation and development will continue in KPC’s arts programming, which will continue to develop and add to its offerings.

Choy’s presence will also continue to be felt around KPC campus and the wider community through his artwork. Pieces of his are scattered permanently around the central peninsula, and Siemers said the college is working to identify more permanent homes for his work.

A large metal salmon crafted by Choy can be seen by patients and families in Central Peninsula Hospital’s intensive care unit. Another piece by Choy hangs outside the college’s Alan ‘Tiqutsex’ Boraas Anthropology Lab, made by Choy when the lab was dedicated to his friend in 2022.

“In Memoriam: The Lasting Legacy of Cam Choy” will be displayed in the Gary L. Freeburg Gallery through Oct. 3.

Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.

Artwork by Kenai Peninsula College Associate Professor of Art Cambid-J “Cam” Choy is displayed in a memorial art gallery at Kenai Peninsula College in Soldotna, Alaska, on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai Peninsula College Director Cheryl Siemers speaks before the opening of a memorial art gallery for Kenai Peninsula College Associate Professor of Art Cambid-J “Cam” Choy at Kenai Peninsula College in Soldotna, Alaska, on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Brandi Kerley speaks before the opening of a memorial art gallery for Kenai Peninsula College Associate Professor of Art Cambid-J “Cam” Choy at Kenai Peninsula College in Soldotna, Alaska, on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Associate Professor of Accounting Tom Dalrymple speaks before the opening of a memorial art gallery for Kenai Peninsula College Associate Professor of Art Cambid-J “Cam” Choy at Kenai Peninsula College in Soldotna, Alaska, on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Tom Dalrymple and Brandi Kerley share an embrace before the opening of a memorial art gallery for Kenai Peninsula College Associate Professor of Art Cambid-J “Cam” Choy at Kenai Peninsula College in Soldotna, Alaska, on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Cam Choy, the late associate professor of art at Kenai Peninsula College, works on a salmon sculpture in collaboration with the Kenai Watershed Forum during the Kenai River Festival at Soldotna Creek Park in Soldotna, Alaska on June 8, 2019. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)