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 is hosting a public blood drive on campus from 9 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. Monday, Oct. 7, in the Student Center on campus at 450 North Ave. in Battle Creek. 

The blood drive – hosted in conjunction with Versiti Blood Center of Michigan – is open to community donors as well as KCC students and staff. Walk-ins are welcome as the schedule allows, but appointments are preferred and can be scheduled online at donateblood.versiti.org/donor/schedules/drive_schedule/11406455. 

As a thank-you for donating, donors will receive a $10 e-gift card to a restaurant or shop of their choice. 

For more information about the blood drive event, contact KCC’s Student Life Office at studentlife@kellogg.edu or 269-565-2634. For information about blood donor eligibility, call 866-642-5663. 

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.