Local artist and Oakland Community College faculty member Kegham Tazian is leaving his mark on his employer, after an art piece of his was moved to the Orchard Ridge Campus.

Tazian, a Farmington Hills resident and also the first art faculty member hired by the Orchard Ridge Campus more than 40 years ago, created the eight-foot tall “Pyramid Earth” for TRW Automotive, an auto supplier in Sterling Heights, about 15 years ago. When the plant closed, one of his students happened to know someone who worked there, and was able to connect the piece to his art professor. That student, Charlie Neff, paid for the sculpture’s transportation and granite base, Tazian says.

The sculpture is an interpretation of the globe, a relief of the western hemisphere on an upright background.

Tazian says everyone wants to leave their mark, whether it’s helping others or creating something that will be around long after you’re gone, and art is how he does so. Plus, being on display at a college gives more people the chance to enjoy it, he says.

“I think it enhances the environment,” he says of public art.

Tazian teaches sculpture, painting, design, and drawing among his classes at OCC. He has other pieces on display at the college and throughout metro Detroit, including the Farmington Hills Library and St. Sarkis Armenian Church in Dearborn.

Source: Kegham Tazian, artist and Oakland Community College professor
Writer: Kristin Lukowski