Old Lyme — Oil painter and recent college graduate Mina Mohtasham is coming to Old Lyme to hone her skills at the reimagined Lyme Academy of Fine Arts, where she said a focus on traditional technique and the human figure is a rare offering among institutions catering to a more modern aesthetic.

She is one of 13 students enrolled in the academy's new two-year core program set to begin Sept. 27. School officials describe the program as a return to the philosophy espoused by sculptor Elisabeth Gordon Chandler in 1976, when she founded the academy devoted to drawing, painting and sculpture.

In a departure from almost a quarter century of recent history, the school no longer will confer bachelor's degrees. An affiliation with the University of New Haven forged in 2014, at a time when Lyme Academy was facing a loss of accreditation, dissolved in 2019 with the university citing struggles with finances and enrollment.

Mohtasham, who already has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, said she was exploring master's degree programs but could not find the "traditional, representational-based training" she was looking for.

Representational art refers to pieces with clearly recognizable subject matter — as opposed to more abstract subjects that aren't so identifiable in real life.

At Lyme Academy, the two main studios feature expansive north-lit windows to let in that unique brand of light said to have lured impressionist painters to the area more than a century ago. In a letter introducing the program to prospective students, Board of Trustees Chairman Michael Duffy said the "special hue" of the Old Lyme skies comes from its position at the confluence of the Connecticut River and Long Island Sound.

The rigorous program will put students in the studios for hours amid that consistent light as they study models — some live and nude, others made of plaster — as the basis for drawings and then more sophisticated paintings.

"It's understanding from a conceptual point of view what the figure is, or what the still life is, and how light works over form," Mohtasham said.

The new program, under the artistic direction of figure painters Jordan Sokol and Amaya Gurpide, combines the study of history and anatomy with direct observation of the human body. The traditional method is based in the Renaissance academies of Europe and the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris.

"I felt it was offering a specific kind of craft that is rare to find in mainstream art schools right now," Mohtasham said.

Gurpide described the program as "very intensive and rigorous," with 12-hour days, five days per week for those looking to study and produce art full time. Sokol said students range from those who just graduated high school to retirees who are finally following their passion.

Husband and wife, Sokol is the director of painting and Gurpide is the director of drawing. Sokol spent 10 years studying and teaching drawing and painting in Italy while Gurpide, a native of Spain, studied the same media in New York City. In 2014, Sokol and Gurpide converged in New Jersey to open the U.S. branch of the Florence Academy of Art in Jersey City, which they ran for five years.

Sokol said the faculty, with six core members and an international component that will arrive once visas are secured, are professional working artists who teach some of the time and ply their trade the rest of the time. That means the students get to work with the faculty both as teachers and as fellow artists, he said.

Mohtasham, who wants to become a teacher, said she initially was hesitant about enrolling in a program without a degree at the end. She said many schools looking to hire teachers require a Master of Fine Arts, or MFA, degree.

"But I also think the reason it can be as specialized and intimate is because it's not an MFA program," she said.

Duffy, the board chairman and an educational leadership professional, wrote in his vision for the "revival" of the academy that overhead costs related to accreditation had caused tuition to balloon to almost $50,000 per year when the school was still granting degrees.

Tuition for the new core program is $9,600 per year, plus a mandatory studio fee of $1,350.

"Freed from the requirements and constraints that attach to accreditation, the Academy can return to its roots and become a leaner organization" with significantly lower tuition, Duffy wrote.

The academy also will offer part-time classes, workshops, lectures and cultural events.

Mora Rowe, executive director of the academy, said the nonprofit organization's budget is $1.6 million. She cited tuition as the primary source of revenue. The organization also has an endowment it is looking to bolster through fundraisers, including an upcoming Oct. 16 group exhibition.

Rowe was hired in February by the board to oversee the campus, manage operations and raise money. Now a resident of Essex, she started out in the early 1990s with a diploma in the study of French from the Institut Catholique de Paris and some coursework in interior architecture and graphic design at the Paris-based Parsons School of Design. That's when she said modeling executive Katie Ford took her under her wing and introduced her to the world of fashion in the French capital and then New York City. She worked for about a decade in model management before transitioning to economic development for nonprofit organizations and governments in her home state of California.

According to Rowe, her experience isn't as unrelated as it might seem. "Branding, marketing, model management, it's all very similar," she said. "It's all about finding a special story to tell and then putting it together and finding people who might authentically enjoy the story."

A key component of Rowe's job is establishing the academy as "a vibrant community hub," according to Duffy's vision document. That includes strengthening connections with local cultural institutions like the Florence Griswold Museum and the Lyme Art Association, as well as inviting the public to make use of the academy's campus for activities as wide ranging as concerts on the grounds, lunch in the cafe or business conferences in its large meeting space.

Rowe said plans are underway for a renovation to the existing cafe that will be open to the public with what she tentatively described as a French brasserie-inspired menu of light offerings. She said she is hopeful the academy's art store, also set to be accessible to the public, will open in time for the Oct. 16 exhibition.

Mohtasham, who recently moved to Ivoryton from Philadelphia, works in graphite drawing and figurative sculpture in addition to oil painting. While remaining committed to her goal of becoming a teacher, she said she will see where opportunities with Sokol and Gurpide take her before deciding if she wants to pursue an MFA later on.

"Right now, I'm really interested in learning their craft," she said.

e.regan@theday.com