TOM  LIGHTFOOT

(Self Portrait)

Tom's ARTWORK 1

Tom's ARTWORK 2

Tom's PHOTOGRAPHY 
Cape Cod Romance

Tom Lightfoot is the chairman of the Fine Arts Studio Program in the School of Art at the Rochester Institute of Technology. He teaches painting, drawing and new forms, which encompasses art forms outside the traditional fine art media. 

With a BFA in painting and a BA in Biology from the University of Connecticut in 1970, he went on to receive an MFA in painting from Instituto Allende in Mexico in 1971. After a year as a production assistant at an educational film company in Boston, he opened a gallery on Cape Cod.  From there, substitute teaching in Hartford, Connecticut was the beginning of a long career in teaching art. He became a certified art teacher through the Hartford Art School in 1974. During this period, an advocate for artist rights, Tom was instrumental in propelling the Asylum Hill Artists’ Cooperative to the forefront of the arts in the Hartford area. In recognition of his leadership in the arts, he was appointed to the Commission of Art for the City of Hartford which was charged with conducting national competitions for public art projects. 

After eight years of teaching art in the Hartford Public Schools and teaching watercolor and drawing part-time at Central Connecticut State University, Tom entered a doctoral program at Teachers College of Columbia University. He received a Masters degree in Education in 1983 and then an Ed.D. in the College Teaching of Art in 1985. At Teachers College he supervised student teachers in their art education program, taught numerous computer art workshops, and was the graphic artist for their media center. 

A few adjunct teaching positions in the art education programs of the University of Colorado in Boulder and Metropolitan State College in Denver led Tom to RIT in 1988 to teach courses in creativity in their foundation art program. After a few years he was teaching graduate students from various art programs at RIT to help them prepare for their thesis work. In 1996 he was asked by the faculty of the School of Art to chair their school. After six years in administration Tom went back to teaching and heading up the Fine Arts Studio Program. 

An active painter and mixed media artist he has been in numerous shows locally and around the country. Recently, his work was in The Digital Invitational at Gallery Blue on Alexander Street, a one-person show at Gallery r on Park Avenue and the faculty show at RIT.