LCAD Trustee Choice Award goes to Jody Gerber for ‘Illusion’

The Laguna College of Art and Design has recognized one of its own in adding new artwork to its permanent collection.

Jody Gerber, who recently graduated with a master’s degree of fine art in painting, received the LCAD Trustee Choice Award, for her painting, titled “Illusion.”

The creation used a picture of an adolescent girl as a reference. The girl appears to be stepping out of the shadow of a natural background and into the light.

Leading up to producing the painting, Gerber said she was contemplating how challenging the past year had been because of the coronavirus pandemic. She then applied that mindset to the challenges faced by young girls entering a world where they are unsure what others think of them.

Gerber described the image of the girl stepping into the light as being symbolic of vulnerability and of being noticed, perhaps for the first time.

“My work focuses on children and teenage girls, and my point is that their innocence is what is so important,” Gerber said. “It’s a gift, and it’s something worth preserving. As adults, I feel the responsibility to help preserve that. They have such a gift to be able to love unconditionally, but they’re in such a vulnerable state, and they rely on us to protect them.”

Peter Zokosky, the department chair of the master of fine art in drawing and painting programs at LCAD, enjoyed his time working with Gerber.

“She came in with a particular kind of objective,” Zokosky said. “Acknowledging what other people are feeling and the importance of what they feel was really critical. As an educator, it’s important not to commandeer someone’s aesthetic or their belief system but to help them achieve what they want to achieve.”

The Trustee Choice Award program was started by Suzanne Chonette, an alumnus of the college, just last year. The first to receive the honor was Pegah Samaie, who was another to earn their master’s degree of fine art at the school.

Jody Gerber earned her Master of Fine Arts degree from Laguna College of Art and Design this year. Gerber’s painting “Illusion” was selected for the LCAD Trustee Choice Award.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

“We are very proud of the work produced by all LCAD students, and this is one of the ways we hope to honor their dedication and commitment to mastering the skills demanded by figurative art,” LCAD Board of Trustees chair Terry Jones said in a statement. “This will be a tradition that will enrich LCAD’s remarkable permanent collection and inspire each new generation of students.”

Both award-winning works — Samaie’s “To Love and Obey” and Gerber’s “Illusion” — are on exhibit in the Laguna College of Art and Design Administration Building.

The Trustee Choice Award comes in the form of a $3,000 purchase of the artist’s work by the LCAD Board of Trustees. This year’s recipient was unsure exactly how the money will be spent, but she indicated that the funds would be funneled right back into her work.

“I realize I can buy a lot of paint and a lot of paint brushes,” Gerber said. “It takes money to make art.”

Eligibility for the LCAD Trustee Choice Award is for graduating seniors of the college’s bachelor of fine art program, as well as the post-baccalaureate and master of fine art degree programs.

Zokosky said the monetary prize serves the school’s students.

“They really wanted it to be a purchase award so that the trustees are supporting the students and the school, not just acquiring an impressive collection,” Zokosky said.

Gerber, 48, an Aliso Viejo resident, has raised three children to adulthood. She earned her master’s degree from Laguna College of Art and Design after thoughts had previously crept into her head that a college education would not be attainable while raising a family.

“I relocated here to California just for the master of fine arts program, and it means the world to me to be able to accomplish a goal that I thought was unreachable at one point,” Gerber said of reaching graduation for her post-graduate degree. “It’s been a fabulous experience here at LCAD to be amongst amazing artists and professors and students.”

Laguna College of Art and Design graduate Jody Gerber, who earned her Master of Fine Arts degree this year, poses with her painting, “Illusion.”

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

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