Thursday, June 18, 2015

Drop in for Open Sketch Tonight 6-9pm!


Join us tonight for a perfect storm of freehand sketching and a free model!


A portrait model will pose 6-9pm!  No rsvp needed, just ring our doorbell and come on in. Bring your own drawing and painting materials. We have easels, tabourets and wooden horses. Odorless mineral spirits only please.

Mark your calendar for more Thursday Open Sketch Nights at GCA:
  • Thursday, June 18, 6-9pm - Portrait *TONIGHT
  • Thursday, July 9, 6-9pm - Figure
  • Thursday, August 13, 6-9pm - Portrait
4606 11th Street, Long Island City, Queens 11101
Click here for googlemaps!

Thursday, June 11, 2015

AND THE WINNERS ARE....



The news you have all been waiting for was announced moments ago by judges Jacob Collins, Sabin Howard and Will St. John....

The Grand Prize winner of GCA's 2015 Figure Sculpture Competition is Zoe Dufour!
Second Place is awarded to Anna Lee-Hoelzle and
Third Place to Hiro Kawabata
Honorable Mention goes to Joey Bainer and Griff Leek

Scroll down for images of the final sculptures

Congratulations to all our fine competitors for a fantastic showing! And now to reveal the artists names...

Iconoclassicist is Emily Bedard
Shortie is Suzie Chism
OB1 is Joey Bainer
Dukka is Shangxi Zhu
Fred is Anna Lee-Hoelzle
Dirt McGurt is Zoe Dufour
Little Hulk is Sam Worley
Donatello is Hiro Kawabata
Batman is Griff Leek
Soul Brother #1 is Charlie Mostow
Bruce L. is Leroy Transfield

1. By Iconoclassicist - Emily Bedard

2. By Shortie - Suzie Chism

Honorable Mention
3. By OB1 - Joey Bainer

4. By Dukka - Shangxi Zhu

Second Place Winner
5. By Fred - Anna Lee-Hoelzle

First Place Winner
6. By Dirt McGurt - Zoe Dufour

7. By Little Hulk - Sam Worley

Third Place Winner
8. By Donatello - Hiro Kawabata

Honorable Mention
9. By Batman - Griff Leek

10. By Soul Brother #1 - Charlie Mostow

11. By Bruce L. - Leroy Transfield

Thank you to our amazing model Anthony Santiago! Monitors Katie Engberg, Dale Zinkowski, Audrey Rodriguez and Mackenzie Swenson brought order & humor to the event. Photographers Jessica Artman, Mariana Hernandez-Rivera and Anthony Santiago brought the competition to our followers on social media!

We love our artistic competitions at GCA! What's next? Portrait Sketch October 21, 22 & 23! This competition is more informal with prizes of $1,000 and $500 but no less hard fought! Applications will be available online next week. Summer of 2015 will bring a Figure Drawing Competition.

Competition Day 4: Figure Sculptures After 32 Hours

Hi Everyone! Today is the final day of our live, five-day sculpting competition. The eleven hardy competitors and our model will finish modeling at 6pm.  While the artists enjoy pizza and beer, the panel of judges will work from 6-8pm and announce their decision shortly after.

Join us at the Awards Party from 7-10pm. The event is open to the public and refreshments will be served. Also open for the evening is the adjacent gallery Eleventh Street Arts featuring Nude: A Figure Drawing Exhibition. If you missed the May 15 opening, come on by! The show closes next Friday, June 15.

Scroll down for images of the sculptures at the end of yesterday. The artist's real names will be revealed after the winners are announced!

1. By Iconoclassicist

2. By Shortie

3. By OB1

4. By Dukka

5. By Fred

6. By Dirt McGurt
7. By Little Hulk

8. By Donatello

10. By Batman

10. By Soul Brother #1
11. By Bruce L.

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Competition Day 3: Figure Sculptures After 24 Hours

At the end of eight hours of posing yesterday, our dear model, Anthony Santiago, volunteered to spend an additional hour photographing the day's work! Audrey Rodriguez, one of our four competition monitors assisted.

Scroll down to see photographs of each sculpture captured in the natural light of our skylight!

The competition AWARDS PARTY is tomorrow evening, 7-10pm. The event is open to the public. Refreshments will be served! RSVP.

Eleventh Street Arts will be open for the evening with NUDE: A Figure Drawing Exhibition curated by Colleen Barry on view!

Santiago, Our Tireless Model
1. By Iconoclassicist
2. By Shortie
3. By OB1
4. By Dukka
5. By Fred
6. By Dirt McGurt
7. By Little Hulk
8. By Donatello
9. By Batman
10. By Soul Brother #1
11. By Bruce L.

Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Competition Day 2: Figure Sculptures After 16 Hours


Hi Everyone!
We are well into Day 3 of our live, five-day figure sculpture competition!


We are pleased to announce the names of this year's judges!

1. Jacob Collins, the Founder and Artistic Director of the GCA

2. Sabin Howard, Sculptor and Instructor
FYI: Enrollment is open for a 5-session webinar taught by Sabin:
Intensive Figure Construction and Anatomy for Artists starts June 18
Click for details...

3. Will St. John, Painter, Sculptor and GCA Instructor
2010 Winner of GCA's Figure Sculpture Competition

The panel will award prizes of $10,000, $3,000 and $2,000.

Scroll down for images of the sculptures after 16 hours of modeling!

The competition studio is open daily from 1-2pm and the Awards Party is this Thursday night 7-10pm! The prizes will be announced by 8pm. RSVP for the party. Open to the public, refreshments will be served.

1. By Iconoclassicist

2. By Shortie

3. By OB1

4. By Dukka

By Fred

6. By Dirt McGurt

By Little Hulk

8. By Donatello

9. By Batman

10. By Soul Brother #1

11. By Bruce L.
Photography by Jessica Artman