Keeping the CCA Flame Burning in Seoul Seoul has become something of a home away from home for numerous CCAers. In cyberspace and, occasionally, on terra firma, about 150 Korean alumni, students, and prospective students meet, mingle, and network in what has become the CCA Korean Alumni Group. While giving members the opportunity to reminisce about the thrill of artistic victory and the agony of critique, the club also introduces the school to newly accepted students, offering them a way to meet classmates before they hit the California coast. As of fall 2008 CCA has 29 Korean students, who comprise more than a quarter of the college’s international student population. Last year, in honor of CCA’s centennial, the club hosted a special evening event for Korean alumni at Minjoo Kang’s (Ceramics 2002) wine and coffee house. Graduates, prospective students, parents of students, and Korean faculty from the likes of Seoul National University and Samsung Art and Design Institute attended the gala along with Stephen Beal, then CCA’s provost (now president), and Michele Rabin, director of international student affairs. “I love to see everyone doing so well at their work,” says member Sunghwan Moon (Film/Video 2003). “Just as fellow students were always my greatest teachers, keeping me alert and awake at school, they continue to inspire me to work harder.” Moon is now an editor at the Korean animation studio DigiArt; his latest project was Garfield: Pet Force. Jeesun (Arys) Hur (Interior Architecture 1997) was working for an interior design firm in Tokyo and had already shown a clear passion for the field before she managed to convince her parents that CCA would be a good move. They reluctantly gave her permission to go to school so far from home. Now she’s the CEO of her own firm, ArysArchiDesign, based in Seoul, with clients as far-flung as Japan and Africa. “The group allows me to meet those I didn’t know while I was in school, and reconnect with others I rarely get to see now,” she says. “Whenever CCA alumni happen to pass through Seoul, we gather to eat, drink, and enjoy a nightlong chat. Staying connected allows us to talk about what we’re doing in art and art-related fields, and helps keep us excited and focused.” A few months ago, Yunjung Kil (Interior Architecture 1997) participated in CCA’s orientation for new Korean students in Seoul under the auspices of the group. “I had the chance to tell students about my career and work, which was fun for me and, I hope, meaningful for them,” says Kil, whose interior design firm, GIL Design Inc., is branching out into environmental design. Meanwhile, in and around freelancing as a fashion designer (she has designed uniforms for past Korean Olympic competitors, among other high-profile projects), lecturing at universities, and earning a PhD in clothing and textiles, current club president Sooah Choi (Fashion Design 1998) has big hopes for the future. “I want us to hold alumni group exhibitions with various media and majors represented,” she says. She invites anyone interested in finding out more about the Korean Alumni Group to visit ccac.cyworld.com, where an account can also be opened in English.
CCA centennial event in Seoul, 2007. President Stephen Beal is third from the right.
President Stephen Beal, Jeesun (Arys) Hur (Interior Architecture 1997), and Michele Rabin, former director of international student affairs
Alumni Profiles
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