One of the nation’s top colleges of art and design, Laguna College of Art and Design (LCAD) announced that 12 students from its undergraduate Fine Arts program 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 galleries.

The 2016 LCAD Professional Mentoring Program exhibition will take place from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., on December 1, 2016, during the December First Thursdays Art Walk. The public is invited to view student artwork at participating galleries. Participating students and member galleries are listed at www.facebook.com/lcadprofessionalmentorprogram, www.lcad.edu or www.firstthursdaysartwalk.org.

LCAD’s Professional Mentoring Program pairs students of LCAD’s Fine Arts program with First Thursdays Art Walk member galleries. Representatives from the galleries guide students through the fundamentals of exhibiting their work in the professional area and educate them about the business side of operating a gallery. Except for juried student exhibitions at LCAD Gallery, the LCAD campus and various other LCAD satellite galleries, many students never have exhibited their work professionally. Proceeds from art sales go to student artists and LCAD student scholarships.

“There is neither another mentor program nor art walk like this in the nation,” said Robin Fuld, instructor of Professional Studies and director of Career Services at LCAD. “Laguna Beach is unique among California’s art communities in that its First Thursdays Art Walk brings together world-class galleries with one of the nation’s top art and design schools to enhance student education, giving our students a competitive edge in the professional art world.”

Fuld has coordinated the program for 15 years and is an active member of First Thursdays Art Walk board of directors.

Bestcolleges.com recently ranked LCAD Career Services within the top 24 college career services in the nation. Many LCAD Fine Arts alumni who have participated in the program have continued their careers with the mentoring galleries as exhibitors, assistants, installers, consultants and managers.

Hope Railey, chair of LCAD Fine Arts, stressed the importance of learning the business side of the industry to succeed as a working artist. “LCAD’s Professional Mentoring Program offers students the ability to further develop their professional practices within the Laguna Beach arts community and to learn from individual gallerists the inner workings of the business of art,” she said. “LCAD’s BFA program in Fine Arts is one of the few in the nation that give students this unique opportunity to practice the skills they learn in LCAD’s Professional Practices course before embarking on a professional career in the arts."

About Laguna College of Art and Design

Founded in 1961, Laguna College of Art and Design (LCAD) is one of the top art and design schools in the nation. LCAD offers undergraduate degrees (BFA) in Animation, Creative Writing, Drawing and Painting, Game Art, Graphic Design + Digital Media, and Illustration, as well as Master of Fine Arts degrees (MFA) in Art of Game Design, Creative Writing, Drawing, and Painting. The Dennis and Leslie Power Library at LCAD houses the historic archives of the college and The Rex and Joan Irving Brandt Papers.

For more information about LCAD admissions, news, events and Annual Fund, visit www.lcad.edu. Facebook at @LCADBFA, Twitter @LCAD and Instagram @lcadbfa.

About First Thursdays Art Walk

First Thursdays Art Walk’s mission is to promote art education and appreciation in Laguna Beach, the leading year-round destination and community of fine art galleries. We are a 501(c)3 non-profit organization committed to supporting our member galleries; serving the community by cultivating an appreciation for the arts; and providing high quality educational experience for art students through the annual Mentoring Program with Laguna College of Art + Design.