Back To School; Laguna College Of Art & Design Post-Baccalaureate

LAGUNA BEACH, CA — In everyone's lives, changes occur. For Donna Ballard, she was faced with changes following the death of her husband. Choosing a career in architecture, over art, was the perfect move for Ballard who "wanted to do something practical" with her life and new career.

Donna Ballard is Principal Architect, Of BB Architects, Inc., a nationally and internationally recognized firm. Ballard decided it was time to pursue her life-long dream and was accepted to LCAD Drawing and Painting BFA program.

However, after closer inspection, Ballard found a perfect fit in LCAD’s Post-Baccalaureate in Drawing and Painting, a one-year, 30-unit program that focuses on representational drawing and painting skills.

“My work has improved in leaps and bounds,” she said. “By learning best practices in how to apply the paint and important technical skills, my paintings are at a whole new level.”

Not surprisingly, Ballard’s work focuses on buildings, especially their geometry and light and shadows. In 2017, she graduated with her fellow classmate and architect Brad Neal.

She is eagerly working on a collection she hopes to display at the Festival of Arts.

“The hardest part of the program was coming home after a long day at work to do my homework,” Ballard said. “I was working in my dining room while my home was being remodeled. But it was worth it. I would do it over again.”

Betty Shelton, who heads the post-baccalaureate program, said that this program gives serious artists a first step to pursuing a professional career or pursuing a terminal degree in their field. Approximately one-third of students continue into LCAD’s MFA program in Painting, while two-thirds pursue a professional career.

“In the absence of these programs, a number of people who would be great artists would give up because they may not want to go through a second bachelor’s degree or have the skill for an MFA program,” Shelton said. “Our curriculum helps students develop conceptual and narrative skills to use their unique voice in their work.

LCAD Post Baccalaureate is attractive to students who earned a bachelor’s degree in fine art or a related major and are ready for a serious course of study. Just as with its other majors, LCAD screen applicants through a rigorous portfolio review.

Ballard, with fellow graduate Lisa Mansour, is enjoying the perks as LCAD Post-Baccalaureate alumni who can audit one course per semester at LCAD. As current and former members of the Laguna Beach Arts Commission, they inspired current Laguna Beach arts commissioner and friend, Suzanne Mellor to apply to the program. The three now share a studio space in South Laguna Beach.

For more information about LCAD’s Post-Baccalaureate program in Drawing and Painting, please contact Betty Shelton, chair at bshelton@lcad.edu or Renee Johansson at rjohansson@lcad.edu.