Clark College welcomed muralist Christian Barrios, a Clark College graduate, to lead the community in creating a mural project during International Education Week from November 13 to 15.  

The college community gathered for a mural painting party. Erika Nava brushed red paint onto a flower petal on a large sheet of metal taped to the wall in the Penguin Student Center. Nearby, Rosalba Pitkin brushed dusty pink paint onto another flower. They were joined by other Clark staff and students adding their brushstrokes to a new mural taking shape on campus. 

Overseeing the project, artist Christian Barrios, who designed the mural, mixed paint colors, offered input to the painters and added his own colorful brushstrokes.  

Titled “Coming Together for Art and Peace,” the mural provided an opportunity for the Clark community to gather, celebrate diversity, and promote the values of international unity and peace. Barrio brings a connection and passion to this project, ensuring its resonance with the college and the local community.    

Nava and Pitkin collaborated to bring Barrios and this community art project to campus. Pitkin, who works in Clark’s Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, introduced Barrios to Spanish teacher Nava. She invited the bilingual Barrios into her classroom to talk with her students about fine art, public art, mural art, and graffiti. He told Nava he had received a grant from Community Foundation of Southwest Washington and Fourth Plain Forward to create a mural in a public school. Barrios wanted to create the mural at Clark. 

That sparked Nava, Pitkin, and Barrios to begin brainstorming a community mural designed by Barrios. They presented their ideas to President Edwards, ASCC, and then the Art Selection Committee. 

“That’s how it started,” Nava said, waving her paintbrush for emphasis. “And here we are!” 

Mural on metal 

The “canvas” consists of three large metal sheets, the same type used for street signs. The paint is an artist’s acrylic polymer that Barrios uses to create outdoor murals. 

In his studio, Barrios drew outlines of the design elements: stylized embroidered flowers scattered across the scene, a Monarch butterfly floating in the breeze on either side and in the center, two rainbow doves aloft with olive branches in their beaks.  

Barrios said it would take at least three layers of paint to create the mural: “The first layer is pastel. The second and third layers will be darker. It creates more color saturation. Makes it more vibrant.” 

To demonstrate, Barrios pointed to the Monarch butterfly’s wings. The first layer was a bright yellow. He explained that as layers are added, the wings eventually will appear a deep orange. 

After all layers are painted, Barrios will take the mural back to his studio where he will outline the shapes in black and add a black background. He also will add sealant to protect the art.  

On the first morning of painting, Barrios shared his passion for creating murals.  

“When I was growing up in Mexico City, I went to a lot of museums, but I don’t remember the artwork,” he said. “But I do remember the murals on the street. People painting on the street—for us. I love public art and doing community projects.” 

The completed mural will be installed inside Joan Stout Hall after the unveiling on February 13, coinciding with International Day. It will join hundreds of public art pieces installed on Clark’s campus. 

Many students came to participate in the painting over the three days, even Clark’s youngest students from early childhood education. Many students expressed how this was a much-needed mental health break this week, and came back multiple times throughout the 3 days. Spanish language, communications classes, and more showed up to support the project.

Special thanks to Fourth Plain Forward, La Casita Art Gallery and Cultural Center, and the Community Foundation for Southwest Washington for their support of this project.  

About Christian Barrios 

An accomplished artist and muralist, Barrios’ artwork has made a significant impact on the Vancouver community. A graduate of Clark College, Barrios is deeply committed to promoting unity and diversity through his artwork, collaborating with organizations including Fourth Plain Forward and La Casita Cultural Center.  

Born in Mexico City, he learned ceramic painting in the historic Talavera tradition from his family’s business. At 16, he moved to the United States, expanding his skills under master marquetry artist Gene Zanni and exploring painting, paper mâché, and photography.   

Active in the Oregon and Washington Latino art scene, Barrios’ work has been exhibited at Portland Art Museum, The Dalles Art Center, and more. His art resides in private collections across Mexico, Canada, California, Oregon, and Washington.  

Devoted to community impact, Barrios collaborates with organizations including the Regional Arts and Culture Council’s Right Brain Initiative and the Hombres Honor Program. He’s the driving force behind La Casita Art Gallery and Cultural Center, a hub promoting diversity and inclusion for LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, and neurodivergent communities.  

Barrios’ recent mural on East Fourth Plain Boulevard illustrates his commitment to enhancing neighborhoods by celebrating diverse cultures through art. His work beautifully bridges cultural divides, making him a remarkable artist and community advocate.   

Learn more about Barrios and his work here. 

On Friday, Nov. 3, Clark College welcomed the community to its annual Powwow event as it hosted Educating for the Seventh Generation, a celebration of Indigenous cultures. 

Gaiser Student Center reverberated with drumbeats. Drummers sitting in a circle pounded a steady beat as they chanted. Dancers wearing colorful regalia moved rhythmically up and down and along the floor in a whirl of color.  

The dancers and their families had spent countless hours hand sewing their jingle dresses and sewing elaborate beadwork on dresses, leggings, belts, chokers and moccasins. Many wore traditional basket hats woven from cedar bark. 

Catarina’s story 

Clark College graduate Catarina Salazar was ready to dance. She had spent countless hours creating her colorful regalia. She had hand sewn and twisted 365 metal cones on her red jingle dress. She had beaded her earrings and had made a choker of bone and beads.  

Catarina’s tribal affiliation is Dakota/Sioux. She gestured toward her brother sitting nearby and said, “We’ve been dancing since we could walk.” 

After earning her associate degree at Clark in 2021, Catarina earned her bachelor’s degree at Central Washington University. Now she is pursuing a Master of Science degree in Clinical Psychology at Capella University and will graduate in 2027.  

When she was a Clark College student, Catarina received the Dreamcatcher Scholarship twice. The funding helped her step toward her goal: becoming a clinical counselor at the Veterans Administration and working with veterans experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder. 

But now, it was time for Catarina to dance.  

2023 Dreamcatcher Scholarship recipients: 

• Duana M. Johnson 
• Dabai Do Che 
• Meridian Bonser 

History of Powwow at Clark College 

Since 2009, Clark College has celebrated Indigenous cultures during the first weekend of November with a powwow that includes music, dance, food, vendors, honoring of veterans, and the announcement of the Dreamcatcher Scholarship honoring our vision of Educating for the Seventh Generation. 

Clark College coordinates and hosts this annual event in honor of Native American Heritage Month. “Educating for the Seventh Generation” references our responsibility to teach the future Seventh Generation to maintain our resources, traditions, and customs. It is the way of caring and preserving for the Seventh Generation, which is a true sustainable practice to consider the impacts of every decision for the next seven generations into the future. 

See the 2023 POWWOW photos by Clark College photographer Jenny Shadley on our Flickr site here.  

At the construction site for Clark College at Boschma Farms, Oswald the Penguin arrived in style—riding in the back of a white Tesla hatchback, his penguin feet dangling, and his penguin arms waving to the crowd. 

Then he stepped down from the car and led the crowd to kick off the “topping out” ceremony at the Advanced Manufacturing Center, the first building being constructed at Clark’s new site located on 10 acres just east of the Ridgefield Junction at Interstate 5. Clark College in collaboration with developer and design-builder, Mortenson, hosted the ceremony on November 2. The event celebrated the structure reaching its full height.  

Guests had an opportunity to use gold or silver Sharpies to write their name and a message on a long steel beam temporarily suspended a few feet above the ground. The beam was painted Clark College blue and was topped with an American flag and a live, potted evergreen tree symbolizing persistence, prosperity and longevity.  

Then the crowd gathered under a large canopy to hear Clark College and Mortenson leaders speak about the importance of the project.  

Dr. Karin Edwards, president of Clark College said, “Just five months ago, we stood in this same place—and it was an empty field and an excavator.” She added, “The Advanced Manufacturing Center will enable future students with innovative training for careers in the manufacturing trades while also providing programs accessible to Ridgefield and the communities in north County. Our vision is for this progressive instructional center to serve our growing region and the critical workforce needs including advanced manufacturing.”  

Cristhian Canseco Juarez, chair of the Clark College Board of Trustees, said, “This Advanced Manufacturing Center not only stands as a testament to the college’s commitment to innovation and growth but also underscores our dedication to our community needs and providing the local industry with highly skilled workers.”  

After all guests had signed their names, a boom truck with a 50-foot mast began slowly hoisting the beam to the top of the structure. Meanwhile, four Mortenson ironworkers rode scissorlifts to the top of the structure, where they attached their safety harnesses. Then they guided the beam into place and secured it with spud wrenches and hefty bolts.  

The crowd clapped and whooped appreciatively.  

In less than two years, the Advanced Manufacturing Center will greet its first cohort of students. When it opens in the Fall of 2025, the Advanced Manufacturing Center will provide initial enrollment of 32 students in two cohorts of 16, with plans to eventually serve 48 students across three cohorts. In addition, this Clark building will also provide five general education classes with a computer lab that will have the capacity to serve up to 1,200 students per term. 

About the Advanced Manufacturing Center 

Designed to accommodate a multitude of both instructional and community needs, the Advanced Manufacturing Center will be adaptable for future growth. Manufacturing and classroom spaces will be designed for multiple delivery modes including lecture, collaborative, project-based learning, and hybrid models implementing online content and classroom application. The facility’s acoustic design will ensure that unamplified voice communication will carry above ambient machine noise.  

A noteworthy aspect of the project’s construction is the building’s prefabricated exterior walls which will soon be installed by the Vancouver-based team from contractor and fabricator, Western Partitions, Inc. The progressive design-build construction delivery method, spearheaded by Mortenson and in collaboration with Henneberry Eddy Architects, are instrumental to the successful implementation of the use of prefabrication in this project and its resulting efficiencies.   

“As we mark this critical milestone and reflect on the 155 days and roughly 19,000 hours of injury-free work, we underscore our commitment to timeliness and safety,” said Mike Dickey, senior project manager of Mortenson.  “I stand proud of everyone who has contributed to this project and extend a heartfelt thanks for a job well done.” 

On track to be a LEED Silver certified building, the Advanced Manufacturing Center will meet state energy performance standards, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and improve operational efficiencies. 

Advanced Manufacturing Center by the numbers 

Projected completion: Late 2024 

First classes to begin: Fall 2025 

Building size: 49,000 square feet 

• 3 industry-specific classrooms 
• 4 four labs 
• 5 manufacturing cells 
• A vast manufacturing floor 
• 5 general education classrooms 
• Plus faculty and student amenities 

More event photos visit our Flickr Page

Photos Clark College/Jenny Shadley unless noted otherwise

The kitchen garden that wraps around three sides of the Tod and Maxine McClaskey Culinary Institute at Clark College is reaping a bountiful, colorful harvest for students to use in their recipes. There is still time to visit the garden before everything is harvested.

Students and instructors from both the Cuisine Management program and the Professional Baking and Pastry Arts program have been harvesting herbs, vegetables and fruit throughout the summer. This is the second year the garden has produced a harvest. 

“The tomatoes are really coming in and the squashes are still producing,” said Chef James “Sonny” Demartini, a cuisine instructor who spearheaded the kitchen garden project with Fay Shorten, a stockroom attendant in the college’s food services department.  

Clark College renovated its culinary space in 2017, thanks to a grant from the Tod and Maxine McClaskey Foundation. The blueprints included plans for culinary gardens around all three sides of the building, but there was no funding for a garden. 

Demartini and Shorten did not let the lack of funding become a barrier to creating a kitchen garden for their students. They cleared otherwise unused space outside the building and created gardens including fruit trees, berries, herbs and vegetables.  

Demartini is a Midwesterner who grew up immersed in gardening. He rolled up his sleeves and got to work. Sweat equity from Demartini, Shorten and many others laid the groundwork. Demartini made a list of everything they would need to get started.

The first step was recruiting a team of volunteers to get to work amending the soil, including adding nutrient-rich composted produce from the college’s kitchens. The culinary programs save all organic food scraps—from carrot tops to eggshells. Demartini feeds the scraps into a blue Landworks industrial wood chipper he converted into a food waste mulcher. Rather than waiting for many weeks for the food to become compost, it chops food waste into rich, organic matter that immediately can be worked into the garden soil.  

Demartini credits the college’s hard-working grounds crew that has provided much labor, including revamping an irrigation system.  Demartini and Shorten found ways to get products at no cost. This includes getting deliveries of bark chips from pear trees removed from Washington State School for the Blind. Demartini also pointed to a stack of pear logs that students will use to cure and smoke meats.  

Not everything was free. About $8,000 in grant money was used to purchase some items, including the chipper, galvanized stock tanks they have repurposed as raised beds. Although some plants and seeds were donated, they also purchased others.  

• Concrete planters along the north entrance to Gaiser Hall—and just steps from the McClaskey Institute—are bursting with tomatoes, squash, peppers and an assortment of fragrant herbs, including sage, mint, rosemary, sorrel, lovage, parsley and chives.   
• Red grapes hang from the vines.  
• Hops grow high above the roof. 
• Thriving fruit trees include five different types of espalier apple and pear trees plus plum, quince and fig trees. 
• A dozen varieties of sunflowers, which have edible petals and seeds. These were harvested earlier this month. 
• Nasturtiums provide edible petals, a pretty garnish and an infusion in oils and vinegars.  
• An assortment of edible wildflowers also attracts pollinators to the garden.

Shorten said that when she worked in the garden, the college community and the public stopped by to admire the garden.

“When I’ve worked in the garden, people always tell me how good it looks.” Shorten said. “The veterans on the other side of Fort Vancouver Way came over and told us how good it looks. One of the gals who works for ODEI brought us strawberry plants. It’s so nice to go out and sit with all the plants.”

Clark College has offered culinary education for more than 60 years. The Tod and Maxine McClaskey Culinary Institute at Clark College is the only public, accredited culinary program in the metro region that offers a two-year associate in applied technology degree. Clark’s program offers competitive programs, a seasoned team of instructors with real-world experience, a state-of-the-art culinary facility and collaborative industry partnerships. Learn more about Cuisine Management at Clark College here and Professional Baking and Pastry Arts here.

Clark College community, we hope you will stop by Cannell Library during the week of October 2-6 to observe Tibetan Buddhist monks constructing a sand mandala. It’s a rare opportunity for us.

Clark College will host Tibetan Buddhist monks as they construct a sand mandala in Cannell Library on the college’s main campus. This will be the third time monks have constructed a sand mandala on campus. Previously, mandalas were constructed at Clark College in 2012 and 2020.  

All events are free and open to the community. They are co-sponsored by Clark College International Programs, Clark College Libraries, and Dharma Light Tibetan Buddhist Association of Vancouver. (See full schedule below.)   

This project can be appreciated simply as a beautiful and intricate time-based art form. According to Tibetan Buddhist belief, a sand mandala is meant to create a profound experience of compassion for any who attend. The positive effects of a sand mandala construction are believed to radiate out over the entire region, blessing the environment and the beings therein, in an effort for world peace. The mandala is destroyed in the closing ceremony, as a lesson in the impermanence of all phenomena. 

The opening and closing ceremonies will include traditional Tibetan Buddhist chanting and music. 

The closing ceremony also will include meeting at the Grant Street Pier at Vancouver Waterfront Park (West Waterfront Way and Grant Street).  

Anyone needing accommodation due to a disability in order to fully participate in this event should contact Clark College’s Disability Support Services Office at (360) 992-2314 or (360) 991-0901 (VP), prior to the event.  

View a video from the 2012 sand mandala construction on Clark College’s YouTube channel.  

Event poster (PDF) available for sharing.

Opening ceremony

• Monday, October 2, 12:00 – 12:30 p.m.   

Sacred Tibetan art presentation  

• Tuesday, October 3, 12:00 – 1:00 p.m.  

Venerable Lobsang Dawa will speak about the history and meaning of the sand mandala and the importance of compassion in daily life.

Mandala construction 

       • Monday, October 2, 12:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

       • Tuesday, October 3, 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

       • Wednesday, October 4, 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

       • Thursday, October 5, 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

       • Friday, October 6, 10:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Closing ceremony with music  

       • Friday, October 6, 1:30 – 2:30 p.m.

Procession to Columbia River at Grant Street Pier

       • Friday, October 6, 3:00 – 4:00 p.m.   

Clark College celebrated Juneteenth on June 6 by gathering during lunchtime for barbecue, screening of a film, and celebrating community. The event was organized and sponsored by the college’s Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and culinary programs.    

From its Galveston, Texas origin, Juneteenth is a federal and a state holiday celebrated on June 19 to commemorate the emancipation of enslaved people in the U.S. Celebrations take place across the U.S. and beyond with focus on community and family gatherings, reflection, cuisine, and continued solidarity toward social justice. Clark College celebrated Juneteenth early on June 6 to accommodate academic and holiday schedules as well as to uplift the broader community Juneteenth Freedom Celebration, which Clark College will be involved in.  

Clark College’s Juneteenth celebration was a free event open to all students, employees and community members, and included:   

• Food prepared by Chef Earl Frederick, Culinary Arts Professor in the Tod and Maxine McClaskey Culinary Institute at Clark College, and cuisine staff and students. Chef Earl and crew served up marinated pork loin, coho salmon, Cajun shrimp, chicken thighs, braised greens, Southern-style cornbread, sweet tea, sorrel punch, mini red velvet cupcakes, pecan pie, and more— at no cost to diners.   
• Screening of the film Buffalo Soldiers: Fighting on Two Fronts presented by Dru Holley, the film’s director and producer. The film details the role played by Black soldiers throughout U.S. history. Premiering this summer in honor of Juneteenth, the film will air on PBS on June 12 and on World Channel on June 19 (Juneteenth).   

Cuisine instructor Earl Frederick said, “Barbecue is recognized as a Black contribution to American culture. It was slaves who passed through the Caribbean, cooking animals over pits on sticks. This style of cooking called barbacoa translates now into what we know as Southern barbecue. They also picked up seeds from hot peppers in the Caribbean, which became an important flavoring for the pork in the South.”  

Frederick said his maternal grandmother, a sharecropper from North Carolina, told him stories about the significance of barbecue.   

“My grandmother told me that barbecue is something that Blacks and whites in the South share. When tobacco was harvested in the fall, it was all-hands-on-deck with Blacks and whites working together doing the harvest.”  

Workers hung tobacco leaves in tobacco barns that have slats to let air through. To prevent spoilage, this work had to happen quickly, so a big oak fire was built to cure, dry, and smoke the tobacco. Throughout the night, workers stoked the fire, which accumulated hot coals.   

Frederick explained, “The tradition developed to roast a pig using those hot coals. People dug a hole in the ground, put hot coals in the bottom of the pit, put a grate over the coals, and put a butchered pig on the grate to slowly cook the pig. Everybody—black and white—ate the pig together. Something that didn’t happen any other time.”  

Clark had its first Juneteenth celebration in June 2020. President Joe Biden signed the legislation that made Juneteenth a federal holiday in June 2021, making it the 11^th official federal holiday.  Since 2022, Juneteenth also has been recognized as a state holiday.  

What is Juneteenth?  

Juneteenth (“June” plus “nineteenth”) is a federal holiday observed each year on June 19. Juneteenth was first celebrated in Texas, where on June 19, 1865, in the aftermath of the Civil War, enslaved people were declared free under the terms of the 1862 Emancipation Proclamation. Learn more at https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/historical-legacy-juneteenth. We encourage folx to research how to get involved with organizations and community events to celebrate Juneteenth and get involved in support of diversity, equity, inclusion and anti-racism.

Photos: Clark College/Vanessa Neal

Clark College hosted Noche de Familia on May 9, a special night for Latiné families to learn about academic options and resources offered at Clark College. Offered every term by the college and the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, the free event included activities for kids and dinner for all. 

Attendees had opportunities to speak with Clark representatives from Financial Aid, Transitional Services, Workforce Education Services, Disability Support Services, Counseling and Health Center, Career Services and more. Workshops were offered to explain the processes of applying for Clark College and applying for financial aid. 

While parents found out more about Clark College, children busied themselves with facepainting and games. At the STEM table Engineering, Professors Tina Barsotti and Carol Hsu helped children build a contraption that demonstrated Newton’s Third Law of Motion. Diana Santos watched as her daughter, Ester, 4, inflated a balloon.  

Through a student interpreter, a Clark College staff member asked Diana Santos if she was considering enrolling at Clark College. She paused a minute before answering, “I need basics.” 

Diana and the interpreter headed to the Transitional Studies staff member to learn more about how she could get started with basic ESL classes. 

Moments later, a Clark graduate, Ana Aquino-Barragan stood at the podium and told her story in Spanish. When she first became a student at Clark College, she, too, needed the basics. She had not graduated from high school. She was not confident at speaking English. 

She started with English as Second Language (ESL) classes through Transitional Studies. Her path was not easy. She stumbled. She struggled. She wanted to give up. But her teachers encouraged her to keep going. 

Eventually, Aquino-Barragan earned her high school diploma, three Early Childhood Education certificates, and an associate degree in early childhood education. Today she is an early childhood education teacher. Next, she plans to start a bachelor’s degree program part time while she is working. Her goal is to be a schoolteacher.  

Her daughters saw how hard their mother worked to achieve her goal – doing her homework and juggling a busy schedule. Along her challenging educational journey, she inspired her daughters. 

Her oldest daughter dreams of being a doctor and is starting college. Another daughter who is about to graduate from high school aspires to be a teacher. And, her youngest daughter wants to be a dentist. 

“I am proud that I have set the bar for my daughters,” Aquino-Barragan said. “I showed my daughters that you can fall, then get back up and keep going. I hope that by sharing my journey, I’ve inspired you to continue your education.” 

Next, the college’s Diversity Outreach Manager Rosalba Pitkin spoke about the hardships of immigrant life: “It’s important to be educated in this country,” she said. “This information you hear today can help break that barrier to education. To have access. To take that first step.” 

To learn more, visit the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion https://www.clark.edu/campus-life/student-support/diversity-and-equity/ 

Photos: Clark College/Susan Parrish 

Author Cecily Wong will speak about her work on Tuesday, May 2, from 11 a.m. to noon in Penguin Union Building 258. This free public event is part of the Clark College Columbia Writers Series.  

Wong is the author of three books. Her debut novel, Diamond Head (Harper, HarperCollins), was a Barnes & Noble’s Discover Great New Writers Selection, recipient of an ELLE Readers’ Prize, and voted a best debut of the 2015 Brooklyn Book Festival.  

Her latest novel, Kaleidoscope (Dutton, Penguin Random House) was published in July 2022 to rave reviews. Wong is also the co-author of The New York Times bestseller Gastro Obscura: An Explorer’s Guide to Food (Workman Publishing). 

Her work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The LA Review of Books, Self Magazine, Bustle, Atlas Obscura, and more. She has spoken at book festivals across the country and was keynote speaker at the Hawaii Book and Music Festival.  

A graduate of Barnard College, Wong spent 13 years living in New York. She now lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and daughter.  

Upcoming Writing/Literary Opportunities at Clark: 

• Clark’s Spring Writing Workshop is Saturday, May 20. It will be an in-person event featuring a variety of speakers and workshops. Learn more here.  
• The Swift: Clark College Literary Journal 
• Learn more about Columbia Writers Series at www.clark.edu/cc/cws. 
• More events are planned for the week of May 15—look for announcements about the Subtext Literary Festival.

Photo: Heather Hawksford

Clark College celebrated its annual Sakura Festival on April 20. Rain and cool temperatures moved the community event from underneath a canopy of cherry blossoms to inside Gaiser Student Center. The event was presented by Clark College, the city of Vancouver and Vancouver Rotary.

Clark’s Sakura Festival honors the historic ties of friendship between the sister-cities of Vancouver, Washington and Joyo, Japan. Sakura, or cherry blossoms, are the national flower of Japan. Sakura represents a time of renewal and optimism.  

Clark College President, Dr. Karin Edwards welcomed the community and shared highlights from a trip representing the college in a delegation that visited Kyoto and Tokyo, Japan in March.  

Vancouver Mayor Anne McEnery-Ogle shared the history of the college’s grove of cherry trees and read a letter from Mayor Toshiharu Okuda of the City of Joyo, Vancouver’s sister city. Consul General Yuzo Yoshioka, representing the Japanese consul in Portland, explained that the arrival of the first cherry blossoms in Japan is a big story in Japanese media.  

The entertainment opened with a koto performance by Shigemi Getter, dressed in a traditional kimono, and followed later by Clark College Treble Ensemble under the direction of Jake Funk performed “Sakura” and “Travelin’ Train.” The college’s Japanese Club presented a kimono fashion show. Camas Kendo Dojo demonstrated kendo, a modern Japanese martial art using bamboo swords and protective armor. Portland Shishimai Kai performed the traditional celebratory lion dance of Tokyo, the Edo Kotobuki Jishi.  

A variety of other offerings included early childhood education student art showcase, exhibits including ikebana (Japanese flower arranging) demonstration by Miwa Satoh of Ohara School of Ikebana, a tea ceremony, lessons on using chopsticks to pick up a grain of rice and more. Refreshments of tea and cookies intricately decorated with Sakura blossoms were provided by the college’s Professional Baking & Pastry Arts students.

Some braved the rain to visit the grove of blossoming cherry trees in the Royce Pollard Japanese Friendship Garden at the southwest corner of campus.

PenguinsGive at Sakura Festival

PenguinsGive, Clark College Foundation’s 24-hour fundraising event also was on April 20. At the Foundation’s table at Sakura, members of the O Squad, Clark’s employee giving committee, visited faculty and staff about contributing $90 to support Clark students in celebration of the college’s 90^th anniversary. The Foundation offered free coffee and smoothies at the IQ Credit Union coffee cart.

History of Clark College Sakura Festival

Over 30 years ago, the City of Vancouver received a gift of friendship: 100 Shirofugen cherry trees. They were planted at Clark College, creating an enduring reminder of the bonds between our region and Japan. Over the years, additional cherry trees were added to the college’s Royce Pollard Friendship Garden, including 200 trees gifted by SEH America were planted campus wide. The trees have grown and blossomed—as has that friendship, creating traditions like establishing a sister-city relationship between Vancouver and Joyo, Japan, in 1995 and our annual Sakura Festival in 2006.

Learn more about the history of the Sakura Festival.

View more photographs from the event on our Flickr page.

Photos: Clark College/Jenny Shadley

Submitted by Clark College Foundation 

PenguinsGive, Clark College’s 24-hour fundraising event, is Thursday, April 20. In celebration of Clark College celebrating its 90^th anniversary this year, all Clark College and Clark College Foundation employees and retirees are challenged to “Give $90.” Join the members of the O Squad, your employee giving committee and give $90 to support Clark students. 

PenguinsGive at Sakura Festival 

If you’re attending the Sakura Festival on Thursday, on your way from the cherry trees to Gaiser Hall, get a FREE coffee or smoothie at the IQ Credit Union cart from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and make your donation. 

At the Foundation’s table, members of the O Squad will visit with faculty and staff about contributing during PenguinsGive and students can write thank-you notes to donors. 

The annual Sakura Festival returns to the Clark College main campus on Thursday, April 20 beginning at 1 p.m. The free community event underneath a canopy of cherry blossoms is presented by Clark College, the city of Vancouver and Vancouver Rotary. 

$15k Available for Matching Gifts 

Join colleagues in supporting Penguin Nation. Thanks to generous donors, gifts of any amount will be matched dollar-for-dollar. More than $15,000 is available to double donations. For example, a $50 gift to student scholarships becomes $100; a $90 donation to STEM programs becomes $180; $150 to the Music program becomes $300, thanks to some generous donors. 

Visit www.clarkcollegefoundation.org/penguinsgive