Lyme Academy College Offers Summer Courses for Adults

Adult learners have an opportunity this summer to work in a studio setting with skilled artists at Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts who can provide expert instruction.

May 31, 2016

The courses will provide adults at all levels an opportunity to work with professional artists, build portfolios, advance their skills in various mediums and techniques or just for enjoyment.

The courses are one way Lyme Academy College is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. The year will be marked with a series of classes, lectures, exhibitions and residencies that will feature Lyme alumni and faculty as well as other nationally and internationally recognized artists.

Summer classes offered for adults include:

• Monotypes, Monday-Friday, June 20-June 24, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Participants will use waterless inks and watercolors to create thematic images. The class will be taught by Nancy Friese, a member of the National Academy Museum and School in New York City, and winner of three National Endowment for the Arts fellowships.
• Sunset Painting, Tuesdays, June 28, July 12 -Aug. 9. The class will take place outdoors near the Connecticut River and shoreline. The class will be taught by Michael Viera, a Lyme Academy College alumnus who has won awards from the National Arts Club in New York and the New Haven Paint and Clay Club, where his work is part of the permanent collection. 
• Sculpture, Wednesdays, June 29, July 13- Aug. 10, from 5 to 8 p.m. Students will be introduced to the tools, materials, techniques and methods of modeling the human figure including armature building, clay application, elements of form, proportion, and visual anatomy. The class will be taught by Kimberly Monson, who holds a B.F.A. from Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts and an M.F.A. from New York Academy of Figurative Art. She is an instructor of sculpture and drawing at Lyme. 
• Life Drawing, Thursdays, June 30, July - Aug. 11, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The course introduces students to a variety of quick and extended drawing exercises that explore anatomy and proportion, movement, composition and page design, distribution of weight of the figure, and the use of line and shadow to render form. The class will be taught by Rick Lacey, a Lyme Academy College alumnus. 
• Drawing from Nature, Saturdays, July 9-July 30, from 9 a.m. to noon. Students will learn how to note the primary characteristics of their subjects and how to sketch fast-moving behaviors in the field. The class will focus primarily on drawing birds, but will touch on other local wildlife and natural subjects. The class will be taught by Michael DiGiorgio, a nationally recognized nature artist who works full time as a painter and illustrator. DiGiorgio’s works have appeared in a variety of nature books and journals, including Audubon’s Field Guide to Birds/Eastern and Western Region. He also revised the plates in the 12th edition of the Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America.
• Graphic Novel, Monday-Friday, July 18-July 22, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The course will layout the basics of graphic storytelling, panel breakdown, character development and pointers on finishing. The instructor, David Wenzel, has illustrated more than 30 books and is recognized internationally for his visualization of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit into graphic novel format. 
• Encaustic Painting, Monday-Wednesday, August 1-3, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Encaustic is the art of painting, sculpting or printing with a beeswax based medium using heat to bond the layers of wax to a substrate and to each other. The workshop will be taught by Kathryn Bevier, a Lyme Academy College alumna. 
• Open Figure Drawing, every Saturday in June, July and August except June 4 and July 2.from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Students at any level will paint and draw a live model. The class features a range of both short and longer poses to encourage a flexibility essential to the craft of drawing. The class will be taught by Lacey. 

Lyme Academy College will host open critiques on Wednesday, June 22, Wednesday, July 20, and Wednesday, Aug. 17, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Each month the critique will be led by a different critic, including a teaching artist, gallery owner and a curator. Artists at all levels are invited to bring their work, but pre-registration is required.

For questions and more information about the courses and programs, including fees and supplies needed, contact the Center for Arts Programming at MdAprileQuigley@lymefs.newhaven.edu or visit online at newhaven.edu/lyme.

About Lyme Academy of Fine Arts

Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts is a college of the University of New Haven. Its mission is to educate aspiring artists through a rigorous studio curriculum rooted in figurative and representational art. The college offers a comprehensive liberal arts education essential for advanced critical and creative thought. For more information, visit: newhaven.edu/lyme.

About the University of New Haven

The University of New Haven is a private, top-tier comprehensive institution recognized as a national leader in experiential education. Founded in 1920, the university enrolls approximately 1,800 graduate students and more than 5,000 undergraduates. For more information, visit newhaven.edu.