Kellogg Community College this fall will exhibit nearly 20 mixed-media portraits drawn and painted by Battle Creek native Jamari Taylor.

Taylor’s solo exhibition, “The 4 L’s,” opened Monday, Sept. 9, and will run through Thursday, Oct. 17, in the Davidson Visual and Performing Arts Center’s Eleanor R. and Robert A. DeVries Gallery, on campus at 450 North Ave. in Battle Creek.

The exhibit is free and open to the public during regular gallery hours, which are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays and 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursdays.

An opening reception with the artist – also free and open to the public – will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 13, in the gallery.

In her portraits, Taylor seeks to portray her subjects’ character, power and strengths by making connections “through the essence of one’s beauty and inner soul,” she says in her artist’s statement.

Through her exhibit at KCC, Taylor aspires to take viewers on her artistic journey living through the four L’s: learn, listen, love and live.

The images depict “challenging, powerful and beautiful experiences” that are meant to convey her deep emotional relationship to art, her statement says.

Taylor, currently of Grand Rapids, was born in Battle Creek and is a graduate of Battle Creek Central High School. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Studio Art with an emphasis in Illustration from Grand Valley State University and runs her own art/art therapy business, Jaylei Art, which is based in Battle Creek.

Taylor has created more than two dozen murals in and around south central Michigan – including multiple murals as part of Battle Creek’s Color the Creek mural festival – and her wood-panel mural “Tell Us We Matter” is a part of GVSU’s permanent art collection.

For more information about Taylor or her work, visit jayleiart.com.

For more information about the exhibit or other KCC arts events and initiatives, contact KCC’s Arts and Communication Office at 269-965-4126.

Kellogg Community College’s free STEM Saturdays partnership with INNOVATE Albion will continue with five events in 2024.

The STEM Saturdays project, led by the KCC Lifelong Learning Department’s Bruin Youth Programming initiative, offers hands-on STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) activities and demonstrations for kids of all ages and their families in Calhoun County.

The 2024 events will be held from 10 a.m. to noon on the following Saturdays at the locations indicated:

> Jan. 20 at KCC’s Regional Manufacturing Technology Center, 405 Hill Brady Road, Battle Creek
> March 16 at INNOVATE Albion, 200 W. Center St., Albion
> May 18 at the Marshall Middle School cafeteria, 100 E Green St., Marshall
> Sept. 21 at INNOVATE Albion, 200 W. Center St., Albion
> Nov. 16 at the Battle Creek Area Mathematics and Science Center, 171 Michigan Ave., Battle Creek

In addition to financial and logistical support from KCC and INNOVATE Albion, STEM Saturdays are funded via support from the Albion Community Foundation, the Albion-Homer United Way, the Battle Creek Community Foundation, Caster Cares, Eaton Corporation, Haas Trucking, the Marshall Community Foundation, the Rural Technology Fund and Team 1 Plastics, in addition to a $100,000 Consumers Energy Foundation grant awarded in 2022.

For more information, call INNOVATE Albion 517-945-4800 or visit kellogg.edu/youth.

New and transferring college students will have the opportunity to talk with representatives from more than 50 educational institutions, KCC academic departments, community organizations and representatives from U.S. military branches during Kellogg Community College’s College Night this month in Battle Creek.

The KCC-sponsored event, which is free and open to the public, will run from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 24, in the gym of the Miller Physical Education Building on campus at 450 North Ave.

The event offers a unique opportunity for area students to connect with the schools they’re considering at one time, in one place, where students can ask questions, gather materials and make comparisons without having to schedule multiple meetings throughout the state.

“College Night is a great opportunity for high school students, parents, families, current KCC students and community members to gather information about educational organizations and schools,” KCC Admissions Director Jenni Kotowski said.

This year’s event will include representatives from nearly every major college and university in the state, as well as several community colleges and representatives from various branches of the U.S. military. Staff members from more than a dozen academic departments at KCC, as well as from the Battle Creek Community Foundation’s Battle Creek College Access Network and Legacy Scholars program, will also be available.

Attendees will also have the opportunity to meet with a number of organizations and departments offering educational scholarships.

For more information about College Night, contact the KCC Admissions office at adm@kellogg.edu. Visit kellogg.edu/collegenight for a continually updated list of 2024 participating College Night organizations.

Kellogg Community College will celebrate more than 30 years in Coldwater with a 30^th Anniversary Celebration event Sept. 25 at the College’s Grahl Center campus at 125 Seeley St.

The event will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. and is free and open to the public. Attendees can tour the newly renovated center, enjoy refreshments, catch a performance by KCC’s Branch County Community Chorus and visit with KCC and Grahl Center officials past and present.

A special 30^th anniversary group photo will be taken of all attendees who wish to participate at 5:15 p.m.

The Grahl Center opened in the fall of 1994. The building was named for Dr. Freidrich Grahl, a Coldwater industrialist and retired German educator, who donated all of the original furnishings for the building. Mark O’Connell, who retired as KCC president in 2019, served as the center’s first director.

More than 400 Branch County residents are enrolled in fall classes this semester at KCC, including more than 250 Coldwater residents. Most of these students are taking at least one course at the Grahl Center, which this fall is offering more than two dozen courses onsite.

This includes in-person courses in Biology, Communication, Economics, Emergency Medical Services, English, Math, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology and more, including CNA training. KCC also offers Industrial Trades training next door at the neighboring Branch Area Careers Center.

Coldwater area KCC students also have the benefit of Grahl Center services whether they’re taking in-person classes or not. The College is offering nearly 130 online classes this fall, and many students rely on the Grahl Center’s computer labs, wi-fi and student lounge to complete their coursework remotely.

The campus center consists of 13 classrooms, including nine standard classrooms, two computer labs, a science lab, Emergency Medical Services and CNA classrooms and a student lounge. The center also offers free parking.

For more information, visit the Grahl Center website at kellogg.edu/coldwater.

Kellogg Community College this fall will exhibit nearly 20 mixed-media portraits drawn and painted by Battle Creek native Jamari Taylor.

Taylor’s solo exhibition, “The 4 L’s,” opened Monday, Sept. 9, and will run through Thursday, Oct. 17, in the Davidson Visual and Performing Arts Center’s Eleanor R. and Robert A. DeVries Gallery, on campus at 450 North Ave. in Battle Creek.

The exhibit is free and open to the public during regular gallery hours, which are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays and 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursdays.

An opening reception with the artist – also free and open to the public – will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 13, in the gallery.

In her portraits, Taylor seeks to portray her subjects’ character, power and strengths by making connections “through the essence of one’s beauty and inner soul,” she says in her artist’s statement.

Through her exhibit at KCC, Taylor aspires to take viewers on her artistic journey living through the four L’s: learn, listen, love and live.

The images depict “challenging, powerful and beautiful experiences” that are meant to convey her deep emotional relationship to art, her statement says.

Taylor, currently of Grand Rapids, was born in Battle Creek and is a graduate of Battle Creek Central High School. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Studio Art with an emphasis in Illustration from Grand Valley State University and runs her own art/art therapy business, Jaylei Art, which is based in Battle Creek.

Taylor has created more than two dozen murals in and around south central Michigan – including multiple murals as part of Battle Creek’s Color the Creek mural festival – and her wood-panel mural “Tell Us We Matter” is a part of GVSU’s permanent art collection.

For more information about Taylor or her work, visit jayleiart.com.

For more information about the exhibit or other KCC arts events and initiatives, contact KCC’s Arts and Communication Office at 269-965-4126.

Kellogg Community College this summer began installing 11 new sculptures on its campuses as part of the College’s ongoing KCC Biennial Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition.

The project is supported via the KCC Foundation’s Art on Campus initiative, which exists to provide art experiences on KCC’s campuses. All sculptures are located outdoors and are free and open to the public for viewing.

A reception for the exhibit will be held from 4:30 to 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4, at the Davidson Visual and Performing Arts Center on the North Avenue campus in Battle Creek. Walking tour maps will be provided at the event, which is also free and open to the public.

This year’s installation is the fifth time the Art on Campus initiative installed new sculptures via the Biennial Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition to beautify the College’s campuses. The initiative’s committee also selected sculptures for installation on campus in 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2022.

The new sculptures will be on display at KCC until at least June 2026.

For more information, contact Art Exhibits Director Penny Rose at rosep@kellogg.edu or 269-565-7961.

Bruin Boo returns Oct. 24!

Kellogg Community College invites kids and their families to an evening of free trick-or-treating and Halloween fun during the return of KCC’s award-winning Bruin Boo event on campus in October.

Bruin Boo is a family-friendly, free event for kids of all ages that will be held from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 24, on KCC’s campus at 450 North Ave., Battle Creek.

During the event, KCC students and employees alike will be “dressed to impress in their Halloween best” to hand out candy and other giveaways to community trick-or-treaters at dozens of stations on campus.

In addition to trick-or-treating, Bruin Boo activities will include:

> Halloween games and activities led by KCC students and employees
> A look at the ambulance used to train KCC’s Emergency Medical Services students
> Halloween-themed coloring pages designed by KCC’s Graphic Design students
> Face painting
> A fortune-telling booth in the Binda Performing Arts Center lobby
> Additional fun and giveaways from our community sponsors
> And much more!

Stay tuned for more details as the event gets closer. For sponsorship opportunities, visit kellogg.edu/bruinboo.