Sand Fest returns to Edgewater Beach; proceeds benefit student mentorships, scholarships

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - The American Institute of Architects chapter in Cleveland goes to the beach to build awareness of the role of architects and to raise money for the Architecture Construction Engineering Mentor Program.

The end goal of the fundraiser is education to high school students as well as scholarships for college students that dream of becoming architects.

“There’s certainly a shortage of female and minority architects so we are really excited today to have an organization out here building the sand sculpture with us,” added Allison Lukacsy-Love.

Co-Chairperson of Community Outreach Allison Lukacsy-Love shed light on the crisis her industry is facing, as well as how proceeds raised from the Sand-Fest can help eliminate these obstacles.

“It’s really just important to have more career exposure at an early age,” she said

Also taking part is RDL architects, they have a total of 8 people on their team.

Their theme is “RTA takes you everywhere.”

Felipe Valadez is happy to participate after the event was put on hold for two years.

Back in 2019, the Sand-Fest raised $8,000.

“We’re going to do that again bring that back so everyone can see, and to also get our names out there,” Valadez said.

It’s more than a competition for Valadez he wants to send an important message for kids who want to be architects one day.

“It’s a hard career but it’s also fulfilling seeing your final project you know in real life and people actually interacting with it,” he said.

Copyright 2022 WOIO. All rights reserved.