Core Sculpture
Overview
The Core Sculpture Program at the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts offers an intensive, three-year foundational course for figurative artists, with an optional fourth year of advanced study. The Program is unique within the US in its ability to introduce mold-making, wax casting, bronze casting, and stone carving to interested students, all in state-of-the-art facilities. The curriculum encompasses basic drawing and sculptural elements as well as higher-level compositional theories and professional practices. Students can expect to spend 45 hours per week in the studio classroom, with 30 instructed hours dedicated to life studies. An additional 10-12 hours per week is allotted for uninstructed practice, inside or outside the studio classroom.
Students of all levels in the Core Sculpture Program work with the instructor to grow their individual skill sets, engaging in proven, historically-based lessons in an academy-style studio setting. Hands-on experiences and exposure to a variety of materials are complemented by an introduction to philosophical frameworks and theories.
Traditional courses such as figure drawing and plaster cast studies are considered essential foundational practices for all Core Sculpture students. These are supplemented by lessons in artistic anatomy, structure, and composition, each derived from 19th-century Parisian principles of art and realism, and lecture classes in the Histories of Art. Students in the program will also study écorché during their second year, and, in their third year, advanced theories in dynamic symmetry. Lectures, demonstrations, critiques, and essential practices are reiterated throughout the duration of the program, reinforcing learning and proficiency.
