Laguna College of Art and Design

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Laguna College of Art and Design


Established	1961
Type	Private
President	Dennis Power
Students	420
Undergraduates	375
Postgraduates	20
Location	Laguna Beach, California, United States
Campus	Suburban
Nickname	LCAD
Website	http://www.lagunacollege.edu/

(Abbreviation: may also mean Long Chain Acyl Dehydrogenase)

Laguna College of Art and Design (commonly referred to as LCAD) is a private college located in Laguna Beach, California. LCAD has a small student body with an average enrollment of under 360 students. The college offers a Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts with focuses on a number of specific art fields, these include Fine Arts, Illustration, Feature Animation, and Graphic Design. The school also offers a number of hybrid programs, allowing students to take classes from two majors to further broaden their area of study.

In 2006, the college added a graduate program leading to Master of Fine Arts in Drawing and Painting, with an emphasis on representational and figurative art. Satellite MFA facilities and student mentors are in nearby Los Angeles. Also in 2006, a formal partnership was created with the Florence Academy of Art in Italy.

1 Facilities
2 Faculty
3 Technology
4 Apple vs. PC
5 Relations Between Disciplines
6 External links

[edit] Facilities

The main campus has thirteen studios, including one for students to use as a student lounge to take power-naps between classes or do homework. There is also a print lab, an "Apple Genius" bar, the main campus administrative office, and a library. The main campus is situated in a beautiful, wooded setting surrounded by the Laguna Coastal Wilderness Park -- students spend a lot of time out doors. MFA and BFA seniors are allowed to use designated student studios, of which there are five on campus, and many more at South Campus, located about one mile south in Laguna Canyon.

[edit] Faculty

Laguna College of Art and Design key academic staff is as follows:

Vice President for Academic Affairs - Dr. Helene Garrison

Dean and Chair of Fine Arts - Johnathan Burke

Dean of Visual Communications - Gary Birch

Chair of Illustration - Michael Savas

Chair of Graphic Design - Catharin Eure

Chair of Animation - Aubry Mintz

[edit] Technology

There is a great amount of effort at Laguna College of Art and Design to keep the students with the most up-to-date software and hardware available. The campus facilities include a print lab, and six studios with computers. Four of the technologically advanced studios are dedicated to Illustration and Graphic Design, with the other two studios dedicated to Feature Animation. There is also a special room for seniors who are working on animation projects, dubbed "the secret garden." The secret garden is open all day, every day for the seniors who are allowed in that room, while another studio is open late nearly nightly for animation students.

Some of the hardware available for student use includes digital camera's, Wacom Intuos 3's, and as of March 2007 a loaner laptop for those who are in the process of getting their Apple laptop repaired. The school also provides wireless internet throughout, including their off-campus site south of the main campus.

There is also a great deal of software available for student use on the school computers including Maya 7 and 8, Adobe Premiere, Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Microsoft Office, and Corel Painter 10. Students also receive, through the school, Corel Painter 10 at no cost to the student, and Adobe CS2 Suite with a deep student discount. In the future Laguna College of Art and Design hopes to be able to work out a deal with Microsoft and Symantec for student licensing of their respective programs.

[edit] Apple vs. PC

Apple Inc has brokered a deal with the school creating a "Laptop Program" in which students are able to purchase a MacBook at a discounted price. However as an incentive to stimulate the program the college administration has made it mandatory for all incoming students to buy a laptop, preferably an Apple Macbook Pro through the school. This move has proved a challenge for those students coming from low-income backgrounds and those who might already own a laptop of a different brand. However, scholarships have been created to aid such students. Some discrimination towards non-Apple users on the predominantly Mac user campus has been the cause of a little concern among the student body, as students are welcome to use either Windows or Apple computers on campus. The advantages seem to outweigh the disadvantages as technical support is now available to students for a common platform for free through the school. Additionally, Apple platforms are more prevalent in the graphic design and animation industries that many students are aiming for.

[edit] Relations Between Disciplines

Inside the school there is some healthy and creative rivalry between the Fine Arts and "digital" majors (i.e., Graphic Design and Feature Animation) and less so with the Illustration majors. Many students combine these fields to broaden their education. For example, there Fine Arts/Illustration hybrid majors who are among the most creative at the college. This rivalry includes often humourous conflicts over the schools designated Graffiti Board. This school has a reputation for no violence or major conflicts over its history, and prides itself in making students feel welcome and happy to express themselves.