Laguna College of Art and Design Annual Professional Mentoring Program Launches Careers of Young Artists
Laguna College of Art and Design (LCAD) announced that 16 students from its BFA program in Drawing + Painting will exhibit their art as part of LCAD’s Professional Mentoring Program, an annual collaboration between the College and participating Laguna Beach First Thursdays Art Walk (FTAW) galleries.
The 2018 LCAD Professional Mentoring Program exhibitions will take place from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., on December 6, 2018, during the December First Thursdays Art Walk.
LCAD’s Professional Mentoring Program pairs LCAD BFA Drawing + Painting seniors with local galleries. For two months, gallery owners and managers mentor students through the fundamentals of exhibiting their work and educate them about the business side of operating a gallery. For many students, this will be the first time they exhibit their work in a professional gallery. Proceeds from art sales go to the student artists and LCAD student scholarships.
Now in the 16th year of their collaboration, First Thursdays Art Walk and Laguna College of Art + Design (LCAD) received the 2018 Outstanding Arts Collaboration Award for the Professional Mentoring Program. The award, from the Laguna Beach Art Alliance, recognized the program’s excellence in outstanding achievements and contributions in the Laguna Beach arts community.
After 14 years of teaching the Professional Studies course, Robin Fuld, director of LCAD’s Career Services is handing the reins to Charity Oetgen, an alumna of LCAD’s BFA program in Drawing + Painting (2014) and its MFA in Painting (2017), who, last year, co-taught the course with Fuld.
“As an alumna of LCAD, of the course, and of the Professional Mentor program, Charity brings a unique and refined perspective,” Fuld said. “She is a successful working artist and is perfect to mentor LCAD Drawing + Painting majors as they prepare for careers as professional artists.”
This year’s participating First Thursday Art Walk member galleries:
Artist Eye Laguna Gallery
Kelsey Michaels Fine Art
Quorum Gallery
Wyland Gallery
Artwork: Benjamin Askevold, Public Transportation