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.
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.
PRINCIPAL YOUTH INSTRUCTOR
A Connecticut native and a student of master oil painter Will Cotton since 2015, Marissa Asal received her BFA in Drawing and Painting from the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts in 2019. In spring 2018, Marissa spent a semester living in Tuscany, Italy, studying Renaissance art. Asal produces realistic portraiture in a variety of mediums, including charcoal, graphite, colored pencil, watercolor, pastel, ink, and oil paint. Her celebrity portraits have been particularly widely praised. Marissa teaches highly popular summer youth classes.
