Tracy Hartman (Associate Director of Development) and James Miller (LCAD alumni, professional artist, and Admissions Counselor) gave us an overview of the college, courses offered, the student population, and the type of career these artists pursue.
The college, which is located in Laguna Canyon, was founded in 1961, and has a total of 420 students from many countries. A fully accredited, private, non-profit college, LCAD grants Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in Drawing & Painting, Graphic Design, Illustration, Animation, and Game art, as well as a Master of Fine Arts degree in Painting & Drawing.
Our scholarship recipient, Gemma Magdaluyo, a Senior majoring in Illustration and minoring in Drawing & Painting, shared some of her artwork, including an oil painting "La Boccaria" (butcher's shop), a pencil drawing "Monkey Man" (made up of jungle animals), and an wood panel painting illustration for a book she is writing "Girl with Antlers". Gemma plans to pursue a career in the publishing industry, focusing on book illustrations.
LCAD alumni have gone on to develop film featurettes, video games, cartoon animations for Disney, 3D computer modeling, comic books, websites and much more. The school participates in many exhibits and has a studio on site which can be visited any day except Sunday (in fact, tours are offered at 2 pm daily). In November every year Irvine Rotary club member Marla Noel hosts a candlelight exhibit at the Fairhaven Mausoleum where students' art is auctioned off partly as a fundraiser for LCAD (80% of students receive financial aid).
Learn more about LCAD at their website: www.lagunacollege.edu
