Study in Rome! The next Alma Schapiro Prize Application Deadline is October 20th!

GCA, in partnership with ICAA, is pleased to announce the upcoming October 20, 2014 application deadline for the Alma Schapiro Prize, a three-month Fellowship at the American Academy in Rome! Past winners of the prize include; Michael Grimaldi (2007), Jeffrey Mims (2009), Will St. John (2011), most recently, Katie Whipple (2013), pictured below painting at the Barberini Palace in Rome.

GCA alum and instructor, Katie Whipple, Barberini Palace in Rome, 2013.

The award includes Academy fees for lodging and a studio, travel funds, and a stipend. The fellowship must begin between September of the prize year and May of the following year. Artists must be 21 years of age to apply. Some rigorous training and career accomplishment in painting or sculpture tied in expression and technique to contemporary classicism are essential to competitive applications.

Click here for details on how to submit your online application by October 20, 2014! Applications will not be accepted by mail but must be submitted through email; and include a short essay, a resume or biography, seven images, and two letters of recommendation. The application fee is $25.

Coming soon to Los Angeles: A Drawing Fundamentals Workshop, September 24-28!

Attention West Coast Readers: A cast drawing workshop is coming your way, September 24 - 28! GCA instructor and Alum, Devin Cecil-Wishing, just back from a drawing workshop in South Africa, and finishing up a still life painting workshop here at GCA, will be teaching a 5-day drawing fundamentals workshop at Alberto Bevacqua Studio, September 24 - 28.  Try your hand at classical draftsmanship and enroll today!

Drawing from the Cast: Building the Fundamentals of Realism
This class is opportunity for artists of all ability levels to push their skills to the next level. The workshop will focus primarily on how to render light and form in a convincing manner by utilizing a conceptual model of how light actually works, combined with careful, direct observation from plaster casts of antique sculptures. Register here.

To view Devin's work, visit his website!

Coming this fall to GCA..an expanded cast drawing class schedule!
We're adding a Sunday cast drawing class to our weekly schedule that already includes evenings and Saturdays! Fall part time class enrollment opens in September. Stay tuned to our announcements via our blog, enewsletter, and Facebook!

GCA Winners at Salmagundi Show!

The Salmagundi Club's Non-Member Exhibition ended last Friday and among the artists accepted into the show were GCA artists: alumn Spencer Brainard, current full time students Allison Parker, Adriana Rodriguez and part time student Martha Crow.

Congratulations to Spencer and Allison! Spencer was awarded Best in Show for his portrait drawing, "Abigail" and Allison was awarded the Joseph Hartley Memorial Award for her oil painting, "Plums and Nectarine."

Pictured Left to Right: Spencer Brainard, Allison Parker and Audrey Rodriguez (Photo by Katie Engberg)

2014 Still Life Competition: Final Paintings!

Some of you have been waiting the weekend to see images of the final paintings that were presented to the judges. The artists real names are revealed below. Stay tuned for some action photos coming later this week. For competition details, check out the blog posts from last week. Enjoy!

Michael Klein, The Art Spirit, wins the GRAND PRIZE

Justin Wood, Captain Vegetable, wins Second Place

Cesar Santos, Wapanga, wins Third Place

Hans Guerin, Gopher Baroque

Sam Hung, Maneki Neko

Noah Layne, Painter of Lemons

Grace DeVito, Too Loose Lautrec

Jeremy Deck, The Ant

Justin Hess, Sharp Beak

Michael Klein Wins the 2014 Still Life Painting Competition!

Warmest congratulations to Michael Klein who was awarded the top prize of $10,000 tonight! Justin Wood walked away with Second Place and $3,000, and Cesar Santos won Third Place and $2,000.

We'd also like to thank Rosemary and Co. Brushes for so kindly contributing brushes and gift certificates to three winners!

This has been a fun, fascinating week and we'd like to thank all the extremely talented artists who shared their time with us (48 hours over 6 days).

If you've missed the earlier posts describing this competition, click here for last Sunday's post.

Thank you to all our awesome volunteers for helping this event run smoothly: Anthony Baus, Kevin Muller, Patrick Byrnes, Liz Beard, Audrey Rodriguez, Mariana Hernandez-Rivera, Katie Engberg and Sam Worley.

Stay tuned for Monday's post featuring images of all ten final paintings. Check out Facebook for the full album. Have a great weekend, all!

STILL LIFE COMPETITION: DAY 5!

Only about 90 minutes are left before the painters put their brushes down and enjoy some refreshment while the judges take over the room...and make some tough decisions...

Join us tonight from 7-9pm to celebrate all the competitors! 

In the meantime, view the progress from yesterday below:

Day 5: Too Loose Lautrec

Day 5: Wapanga

Day 5: Captain Vegetable

Day 5: Painter of Lemons

Day 5: The Ant

Day 5: Gopher Baroque

Day 5: The Art Spirit

Day 5: Sharp Beak

Day 5: Maneki Neko

Still Life Painting Competition Grand Prize of $10,000 to be Awarded Tonight! Reception and Viewing, 7-9pm!

THE COMPETITION ENDS TODAY!
The sixth and final day of this 48 hour, 6-day live still life painting competition has come. Artists will put down their brushes at 6pm and join staff and volunteers for pizza and cold beers! The judges will begin deliberations at 6:15pm and announce the winners by 8pm.

AWARDS PARTY AND FINAL VIEWINGS
Drop by the competition studio today for one last lunch-hour viewing from 1-2pm! Or come to the Awards Party and Final Viewing tonight, 7-9pm! 20 West 44th Street, 6th Floor, GCA Studios.

PRIZES
The Grand Prize winner will be awarded $10,000, and the Second and Third Place Winners $3,000 and $2,000, respectively. The ten artists real names will be revealed for everyone who has been tracking the daily postings of the works-in-progress on our blog or Facebook page.

JUDGES
Jacob Collins,
Artist, Founder of the Water Street Atelier, Hudson River Fellowship, Grand Central Academy, and the Grand Central Atelier (opening in LIC, Queens this September!!)

Keith Christiansen
Chairman of the Department of European Paintings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Tony Curanaj
Artist, GCA Instructor, and the inventor of this competition!

STAY TUNED!