Kenai Peninsula College’s two campuses (Kenai River Campus in Soldotna and Kachemak Bay Campus in Homer) and two extension sites (Anchorage and Resurrection Bay) will close for the holiday break on Dec. 24, 2016 and re-open at noon, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2016.

Get started with sculpture in the spring

KPC got lucky when Cam Choy, associate professor of art, applied for and landed his position teaching art classes and managing KRC’s gallery.

Choy was born and raised Honolulu, Hawaii. He received his BFA from the University of Notre Dame and his MFA from the University of Kentucky. According to his biography, his primary influence stems from undergraduate travels to Italy where he was exposed to the works of the Renaissance masters.

Choy’s specialty is sculpture, although he excels at drawing, painting and other mediums. Choy worked with KRC facilities maintenance to transform space in the Ward building into a world class sculpture studio. Complete with a natural gas-fired foundry, welding apparatus and shop tools for manipulating metals, the studio is a sculptor’s dream work space.

Choy will be offering beginning, intermediate and advanced sculpture in the spring semester. Each course builds on lessons learned in the past classes. Students in the beginning class explore sculpture’s fundamental elements of form, mass, volume, scale, material and surface. Choy introduces students to aesthetics and history of modern sculpture. Students become familiar with the tools, techniques, and materials routinely used by sculptors.

Choy invites new students to enroll in the beginning class.

“No experience necessary! Students will explore their creative possibilities by working with various materials such as wood, plaster, and steel,” said Choy.

Choy’s beginning course will be offered on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s from 1-3:30 p.m. in the sculpture studio (Ward room 107). For more information, contact Choy at 262-0274 or email choy2@alaska.edu.

Alaska Native languages becoming a KPC hallmark

KPC has offered a selection of Alaska Native languages off and on for many years. In the past, classes centered on the revitalization of the Dena’ina language. In the past several years, Ahtna language courses have expanded the offerings.

In the spring semester, elementary central Yup’ik language classes will be added to the line-up. Dr. Peter Snow, Arts and Sciences co-department chair, worked with Sondra Shaginoff-Stuart, Rural and Alaska Native Student Services coordinator and Dena’ina and Ahtna language adjunct instructor, to identify a qualified adjunct instructor to teach the new Yup’ik course.

Sassa Peterson will provide instruction for the four credit course in spring semester on Mondays and Wednesdays from 1-2:40 p.m. in the KRC Career and Technical Education Center in room 106.

Spring semester start date and Civil Rights Day closure

The public is reminded that registration for the spring semester will be open online through Jan. 13. After that date, registration requires that students get instructor permission to enroll in the class. For more information, contact KRC Student Services at 262-0330.

The first day of the semester will be on Jan. 17.

All KPC locations will be closed to observe Alaska Civil Rights Day on Monday, Jan. 16.

Mark the calendar for the annual Health Fair

The KPC Student Health Clinic is preparing for the eleventh annual Health Fair from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 18 in the KRC McLane commons. More than 30 vendors will be showcasing health related products and services. Low-cost blood screenings, as well as mammography (offered by the Providence Alaska Mobile Mammography unit), will be offered.

In the past several years, the college has held health fairs in the spring and the fall. The public should note that the February event will be the only health fair offered in 2017.

For more information, contact Audrey Standerfer, R.N. at the Health Clinic at 262-0347. More information will be made public as the date gets closer.

This column is provided by Suzie Kendrick, Advancement Programs Manager at Kenai Peninsula College.