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Faculty

Our faculty has been carefully selected to represent the Academy’s new vision – one that combines the legacy they inherit, and that looks forward to the future of figurative and representational art. Individually, these artists and scholars are at the top of their respective fields; together, they are the core of the Academy and its mission.

EDMOND ROCHAT

DIRECTOR OF CONTINUING EDUCATION AND PRINCIPAL ANATOMY INSTRUCTOR

While studying painting, drawing, and sculpture at the duCret School of Art, New Jersey, the Art Students League of New York, and the Janus Collaborative School of Art, New York, Edmond supplemented his studies by working as a lab assistant for a course in advanced artistic anatomy. A grant from the John F. and Anna Lee Stacey Scholarship Fund allowed Edmond to study Greek and Renaissance sculpture at the Slater Memorial Museum in Norwich, Connecticut, and his portraiture, shaped by these interests, has been recognized with the Dr. Furman Fink Award. Edmond’s teaching appointments include the New York Academy of Art and the Art Students League, also in New York. His works have appeared in Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine and in books on drawing and seeing. Currently, Edmond is the Director of Continuing Education and the Principal Anatomy Instructor at the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts where also maintains his studio.

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RICK LACEY

DIRECTOR OF YOUTH PROGRAMS AND PRINCIPAL CONTINUING EDUCATION INSTRUCTOR

Originally from Evergreen, Colorado, Rick has spent most of his life in Lyme, Connecticut. He graduated from the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts in 2011, with a BFA in painting. He is a recipient of the American Visions Award, as well as the John Stobart Fellowship Award. Rick has been featured in several national magazines, including both American Artist and Art of the West. Rick currently works at the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts, in Old Lyme, Connecticut, teaching highly popular classes in drawing and painting.

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MINA MOHTASHAM

PRINCIPAL CONTINUING EDUCATION AND CORE PROGRAMS INSTRUCTOR

Mina Mohtasham received a BFA in painting from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 2021, and graduated from the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts Core Drawing & Painting Program in 2023. Although her focus is painting, she incorporates drawing and sculpting into her practice, as well. Mina has received numerous awards and honors, including the Raymond D. Estelle Rubens Travel Scholarship, first place in the Susan Mcdowell Eakins Figure Painting Prize and the Stimson Figure Sculpting Competition (PAFA), and first place in the Salmagundi Club Annual Figure Drawing Competition. In 2021, Mina was awarded an Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant. Currently, Mina teaches drawing and painting at the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts.

THOMAS LAPINE

PRINCIPAL CONTINUING EDUCATION AND CORE PROGRAMS INSTRUCTOR

Thomas LaPine uses drawing and painting to actively participate and engage with the world. As a student of academic principles, he strives to expand these traditions in a way that celebrates both historical and modern viewpoints. Focusing on direct representation and specializing in the human figure, Thomas seeks a balance between the visual impression reflected in 19th-century academic drawings and the tactile experience inspired by the Dutch masters. Through extensive study and travel around the world, he has acquired an astute perspective on the fine arts and its relevance to contemporary culture. Thomas currently lives in Connecticut, where he studies and works at the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts.

ETHAN MARTIN

PRINCIPAL CONTINUING EDUCATION INSTRUCTOR

Ethan Martin began his educational training  in drawing, painting, and sculpture at the Beaux’s-Arts Academy in Provo, Utah. Ethan studied there for four years, and graduated in the summer of 2022. Ethan is currently studying at the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts in Old Lyme, Connecticut. Ethan has received honors such as: Third Place from the Oil Painters of America’s Student Competition, Third Place from the Art Renewal Center’s 21st Scholarship Competition, and a Honorable Mention from the National Sculpture Society’s Figure Sculpting Competition in Boise, Idaho.

TODD CASEY

PRINCIPAL CONTINUING EDUCATION INSTRUCTOR

Todd M. Casey was born and raised in Lowell, Massachusetts. His artistic education includes a BFA in Communication Design from Massachusetts College of Art in Boston, Massachusetts.

Casey’s work touches on more than simplistic realism. His work is classically styled but progressive in approach.  Every painting has a tale to tell, brewed from a deep well of introspective thought. 

In the resulting years, Todd has made the transition from painter to author and teacher. He published his first art book The Art of Still Life in 2020 with Monacelli Press. His second book The Oil Painters’ Color Handbook comes out in August of 2022.

Casey lives in Connecticut with his wife Gina, and their daughter Scarlet. When not painting, writing, or teaching, he enjoys reading and spending time with his family.

NATHAN PENNINGTON

PRINCIPAL CONTINUING EDUCATION INSTRUCTOR

Nathan developed his love for drawing at the Louisville School of Painting, having been initially inspired by the Old Masters and French Academic art. Two years later, he arrived at the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts, where he continues to study. Nathan has received numerous honors and awards, including the Opus Animae Caritas Travel Scholarship, the Carleton Wiggins Scholarship for Painting, and a prestigious Second Place finish in the Art Renewal Center’s 21st Scholarship Competition in 2023. Currently, Nathan teaches drawing at the Lyme Academy.