D. Jeffrey Mims
D. Jeffrey Mims is a painter, educator, lecturer, and muralist working as a classical realist. Biography. Mims attended the Rhode Island School of Design (1972 - 1973) and thenPennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts(1973 - 1976).In 1976, he received an Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation grant to support independent study in the museums of England, France, and Italy and in 1981 returned to Florence, Italy where he studied with the American painter Benjamin F. Long and received critiques from Long’s Italian mentor, Pietro Annigoni. For over a decade, he maintained studios in Italy and the US, during which time he  executed both easel and public mural paintings. In recognition for his work in traditional fresco painting, Classical America presented Mims with an Arthur Ross Award in 1984 for ‘excellence and integrity in the application of classical ideals’. He was awarded an Affiliated Fellowship at the American Academy in Rome in 2009 from The Institute of Classical Architecture and Art. Mims has lectured on historic collaborations between artists and architects for, among other organizations, the ICAA and the University of Notre Dame. In recognition of his work with the Academy of Classical Design, the ICAA Southeast awarded Mims the first ever  Shutze Award for Pedagogy in 2020 at its annual ceremony in Atlanta. In 2021 Mims was invited to participate in a live-streamed symposium titled, ‘After Raphael’ which was co-sponsored by the University of Notre Dame School of Architecture, The Rome Global Gateway, the Nanovic Institute for European Studies, and the American Academy in Rome and is available on YouTube. Academy. D. Jeffrey Mims is founder and director of the Academy of Classical Design in Southern Pines, North Carolina. The Academy is a school of fine art with an emphasis on traditional mural painting and architectural decoration. The school  began as Mims Studios in 2000 and was re-structured in 2011 as the Academy of Classical Design. The Academy serves as the educational branch of The Classical Design Foundation, a US based non-profit which was established for the preservation and practice of classical design in the public realm.