Steve Van Doren to deliver keynote

Steve Van Doren to deliver keynote speech  at LCAD's commencement ceremony

Laguna College of Art and Design (LCAD) announced that Steve Van Doren, vice president of events & promotions of Vans, will deliver the College’s commencement address at 4:00 p.m. on Monday, May 21, 2018 at Main Campus, 2222 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach, California 92651.

Van Doren has worked for Vans, originally the Van Doren Rubber Company, since 1966 when he was only 10 years old. That year, his father, Paul, opened the company in Anaheim, California and instilled in Steve and his siblings that they had to work harder and more passionately than their competitors. A credo that now, 52 years later, has made Vans into a global action sports brand.

“Since 2012, Vans has collaborated every semester with LCAD in an Honors Lab that teaches design students the creative process of footwear design and marketing,” said LCAD President Jonathan Burke. “Steve is a champion of both the young and the young at heart, and he has given so much to LCAD by opening the doors for our students through internship opportunities as well as employing many of our alumni.”

Vans’ generosity has totaled over $45,000 in its history of giving to LCAD. The Vans Honors Lab includes studio critiques at Vans headquarters and opportunities for student-designed footwear to be sold around the world. The company also partners with LCAD’s Graphic Design + Digital Media program to host an annual Vans Custom Culture design competition with immersive workshops on campus for competition finalists and offers scholarships to the winners, contingent upon their acceptance to LCAD.

Chloe Allred, an MFA candidate in Painting, will be the student speaker. She is the co-founder of the Body Joy Project, a feminist artist collective and co-creator of Daisy Donk, an artsy, body-positive, online clothing store. Allred’s paintings and writing critiques challenge the way contemporary Western culture thinks about the body. She will exhibit some of her work at the annual LCAD MFA Fine Arts exhibition, Regarding Reality II from June 17th-30th at Q Art Salon.

“LCAD embraced the representational work I wanted to achieve,” she said. “The instructors, visiting artists, and my fellow MFA candidates helped me to find my way and to bring my vision to reality.”