College of the Canyons officials hosted a dedication ceremony Thursday to unveil it’s recently added sculpture collection.

College of the Canyons now now has the single largest Simi Dabah sculpture collection in the world.

“Simi Dabah’s collection is similar to the vision that is our campus,” said Van Hook. “His artwork adds to the ambience and environmental beauty.”

The sculptures were donated to the the college from Dabah himself, and support from the city and others, according to Van Hook.

“Students of COC named each sculpture by submitting a list of name options, each chosen name is now carved into the sculptures,” said Van Hook.

Van Hook spoke at the ceremony, welcoming Simi Dabah to the campus, and thanking him for his contributions. 

Dabah went on stage for a question and answer presentation, and discussed his work. 

“The sculptures were added to the campus in correlation with the campus beautification project,” said Jesse Munoz, COC interim sports information director.

The project began last summer and 22 of the 25 sculptures have been installed on both the Valencia and the Canyon Country campuses, according to Munoz.

“Simi Dabah is a good friend of College of the Canyons,” said COC Chancellor Dianne Van Hook.

About the Sculptor: 

A self taught artist/welder, Simi Dabah has been creating welded steel sculptures from the industrial scrap for more than 40 years. He is a prolific artist who believes that using scrap materials to create works of art is both friendly to the environment and inspirational to the viewer.

His sculptures include a wide spectrum of nonrepresentational designs, ranging from table-top size to more than 20 feet high. The pieces are left in their natural state, rusting to a warm patina. Dabah creates most of the pieces in his Los Angeles studio. His second studio is in the desert community of Joshua Tree, where his sculptures are displayed on 8 acres of land.

College of the Canyons is proud to have the largest collection of permanently installed Dabah sculptures.