ABOUT/CONTACT
HOW IT ALL STARTED
“Vinnie, I don’t see a market for this.”
That was the direct response from my professor when I proposed to artistically depict a historical account of Lacrosse, as my senior-thesis in art school prior to graduation. I was grilled and objectively questioned to defend my proposal. I remained steadfast and told my professor that “this [Lacrosse] is the only thing I want to do”. After some debating, my professor finally agreed.
7 years after graduating from college and back to playing organized lacrosse, a personal website was launched with my lacrosse art from my
senior-thesis. My teammates, who took notice of the work, asked the most important question:
“Vinnie, is your lacrosse art for sale?”
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Vincent Ricasio is the founder of The Art of
Lax™ and has been an avid artist and lacrosse player since childhood. What originally were "doodles" in his high-school notebooks, and then his senior-thesis in art
school prior to graduation has been turned into a graphic studio for generic and custom lacrosse-themed art, design and new product development. His artwork has been purchased for private
home and office décor to end-of-the season awards, graduation and holiday gifts, alike, and commercial material for business corporations in the United States and abroad. In 2011, as the
demand for non-lacrosse-art came in, he started the subsidiary business, The Art of Athletes™.
A native-New Yorker, Vinnie graduated with a BFA in Communications Design from the Pratt Institute of Art and Design in Brooklyn, NY. He has taught art, worked in publishing, print, trade, advertising, online media, sports and marketing agencies while executing private commissions and consulting projects as a commercial, graphic artist and designer. His clients have included:
The Fashion Institute of Technology, The New York Police Department, the State Democratic Assembly of New York, Saint David’s School, South African Airlines, the private medical practices of Anand/loft/Huang & Liberatore M.D., ELIA Life Technology, Green Acres Cash Management, The Warwick Hotel, The Fitzpatrick Hotel, Chorne Graphics, The New York Law Enforcement, the New York Titans of the National Lacrosse League, University Lacrosse LLC, Rahha, Inc., NBC Sports Engine, SportStop.com, MCM Productions, The College of Southern Maryland, Emory and Henry College, Streaker Sports, The Thailand Lacrosse Association, LaxAllStars.com, Doc's Youth Lacrosse & CityLax Inc., HEADstrong Foundation, The We Believe Foundation, The Tewaaraton Award, Indigenous Values Initiative, Hunt-Adkins and The University of Minnesota, Major League Lacrosse, USA Lacrosse, Lacrosse Canada / Canada Lacrosse, Canadian Lacrosse Foundation, Sports Illustrated, Nike, CBS Productions, among others.
His work has been displayed, auctioned and sold at Sotheby’s New York, the Society of Illustrators, Cipriani Midtown, the Kent Art Association, the Webatuck Craft Village, RIVAA-Roosevelt Island Visual Arts Association, LaxFestUSA, the Texas Lacrosse Expo/The Lax Botique, the U.S. National Lacrosse Convention, The Suffolk Y JCC/The National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame & Museum, The Big Apple Pond Hockey Classic, The Yale University Club, Madison Square Garden, TCF Bank Stadium and international stages such as; the Canada Day Box Lacrosse Event in Calgary, the 2010 ILF World Games of Lacrosse in Manchester, England, the 2012 ADH Open in Kaierslautern, Germany, the Native North American Traveling College in Ontario, the 2013 Bantam Nationals and Founder's Cup in Winnipeg, Canada, the 2015 FIL World Indoor Lacrosse Championship on the Onondaga Nation, the 2016 European Lacrosse Championships in Budapest, Hungary, the 2016 Canadian Field Nationals and the 2022 IIJL World Junior Lacrosse Championship in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the Wooden Stick Festival and the Shootout For Soldiers events, the Invista Centre Sports Complex in Kingston, Ontario, among others.
Proud of his unconventional and unique combination of being an artist and an athlete, he is a former co-founder, president and
goaltender of the Brooklyn Men's Lacrosse Club that competed in the elite, American Lacrosse League. He is also a charter member of
the Philippine Lacrosse Association, a current member of the Boulder Brook Lacrosse Network in New York's Westchester County, as well as the head varsity lacrosse coach at The Keio Academy of New
York, believing in teamwork and having a common goal, while helping individuals succeed both on and off the field.
When not in front of the drafting table, painting easel, or computer, or out on the playing field, Vinnie enjoys cooking, watching films,
going to the gym, reading history books, and traveling the world with his family, believing that his artistic inspirations are spurred by “non-artistic” activities. He splits his time between Pelham, NY and Kent, CT with his wife, Rachel and their two sons, Reid and Nate.
“Hard work is better than talent, when talent doesn’t want to work hard.” - Herb Brooks
All images © Vincent Ricasio of The Art of Sports, LLC.
