Art Institute Grads to Display Portfolios

Rachel Makowski, shown here with a gold award she received earlier this year in the American Advertising Federation’s ADDY competition, has completed her bachelor’s degree at The Art Institute of California – Inland Empire. She is one of nine students who earn their degrees at The Art Institute this month. All will showcase their work in a Graduate Portfolio Review to be held Thursday, Dec. 18 at The Art Institute.


(SAN BERNARDINO, Calif.) The Art Institute of California – Inland Empire will host its first Graduate Portfolio Exhibit on Thursday, Dec. 18.

“This is an opportunity for our nine students who are graduating this quarter to showcase their work, especially to employers, but also to friends and family,” said Cindy Jones, Director of Career Services for The Art Institute of California – Inland Empire.

Employers looking for talented, newly graduated professionals in the fields of Graphic Design, Web Design & Interactive Media and Culinary Arts are invited to attend this reception from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at 630 E. Brier Drive in San Bernardino. They’re asked to RSVP with Brenda Medina at (909) 915-2192.

From 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., the party continues its focus on the graduates, but with a different emphasis. The guests joining them during this portion of the event will be their own friends and family.

The Art Institute of California – Inland Empire will serve hors d’ouvres and beverages. Ronnell Lawson and Roberto Vazquez Pulido, who are the first two students to obtain Culinary Arts degrees from the International Culinary School at the Art Institute of California – Inland Empire, will create some of these hors d’ouvres as samples of their work.

The International Culinary School opened in January 2007, a year after the first programs began at The Art Institute of California – Inland Empire. Lawson and Vazquez Pulido earned their associate degrees in less than two years, in part by taking advantage of a year-round schedule their school offers.

Raymond Heredia, the first graduate of The Art Institute of California – Inland Empire’s Web Design & Interactive Media program, will have Web sites he has created on display. He will receive a bachelor’s degree, having also taken advantage of the year-round schedule to complete his education in less than three years.

All Graphic Design students maintain portfolios of the work they’ve done while at The Art Institute of California – Inland Empire. These portfolios are now complete for Raysa Cerna, Anthony Guevara and Rachel Makowski, who are receiving the program’s first bachelor’s degrees and for Regina Cortez, Elizabeth Horn, and Salvador Vazquez Jr., who are receiving associate degrees.

The Art Institute of California – Inland Empire is holding this event for the first time because this is the first quarter the three-year-old campus has had multiple graduates. Plans are already underway for the Graduate Portfolio Review to become a quarterly tradition in 2009. Similar events are planned in March, June, September and December of next year.

“We anticipate 20 to 23 graduates for the winter quarter, which ends in March,” Jones said. “Our numbers of graduates are growing and could reach more than 100 per quarter a year from now.”

The Art Institute of California – Inland Empire offers Bachelor of Science degrees in Game Art & Design, Culinary Management, Graphic Design, Web Design & Interactive Media, Interior Design, Fashion Marketing & Retail Management, and Media Arts & Animation and a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Fashion Design. There are also Associate of Science degrees in Graphic Design and Culinary Arts. Each program is offered on a year-round basis, allowing students to work uninterrupted toward their degrees.

It’s not too late to start the new year at The Art Institute of California – Inland Empire. Courses begin Jan. 12 and classes are offered in the day, evening and on weekends for new and reentry students.

For more information or a free tour of The Art Institute of California – Inland Empire call (909) 915-2100 or go on line to artinstitutes.edu/inlandempire.

The Art Institute of California – Inland Empire is one of The Art Institutes (www.artinstitutes.edu), with more than 40 educational institutions located throughout North America, providing an important source of design, media arts, fashion and culinary arts professionals.