Lyme Academy to feature two new exhibitions

The Lyme Academy of Fine Arts in Old Lyme will open “Beyond the Figure: A Student and Faculty Exhibition” on May 18, with a talk beforehand featuring the art critic for The Wall Street Journal.

“In Conversation with the WSJ's Lance Esplund: A Preview Event” will be at 4 p.m. May 18, followed by an exhibition preview and reception from 5 to 6:30 p.m

“In Conversation” will feature Esplund, who had previously been art critic for Bloomberg News and the New York Sun, and Emily M. Weeks, Lyme Academy's principal art historian.

“Beyond the Figure” is the latest original art exhibition curated by Co-Artistic Directors Amaya Gurpide and Jordan Sokol. It will open to the public on May 19 and will remain on view until Sept. 1, 2024.

In 2021, with fresh leadership at its helm, the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts reopened its doors to students and welcomed a new generation of artists to its Core Programs. “Beyond the Figure: A Student and Faculty Exhibition” is “the first opportunity to witness the results of this rebirth, through the work of its faculty and their students,” according to a Lyme Academy statement.

Faculty members that are represented in the exhibition include: Todd Casey, Hollis Dunlap, Chad Fisher, Michael Grimaldi, Amaya Gurpide, Zachary Kainz, Rick Lacey, Thomas Lapine, Mina Mohtasham, Alicia Ponzio, Edmond Rochat, Alex Venezia, Gary Weisman, and Treacy Ziegler.

Tickets are available for $100 online and at the Academy's on-campus art store, de Gerenday's Fine Art Materials & Curiosities.

Study of Alama-Tadema’s “Between Hope and Fear” by first-year Core Drawing student Jude Dutton, left. Art critic Lance Esplund, right.