Monday afternoon portrait sketch!

Every Monday afternoon at GCA we have a new model pose for a four hour portrait sketch. Check out the results from this week!

drawing by Seeram Mangroo

painting by Patrick Byrnes

drawing by Jon Brogie

painting by Liz Beard

painting by Ted Minoff

painting by Leeanna Chipana

drawing by Dale Zinkowski

painting by Mary Jane Ward

GCA's Eleventh Street Arts Launches in LIC

Grand Central Atelier celebrated the debut of its Eleventh Street Arts gallery last week with an inaugural group show, boldly marking their arrival on the thriving Long Island City gallery scene. More than one hundred attendees toured the gallery of over 90 paintings and sculptures by founding members, alumni, and resident artists of the Grand Central Atelier. Classically inspired realist portraits, figures, landscapes and still lifes lined freshly painted gallery walls, below newly hung track lighting. What was a vast, unpolished warehouse a few short months ago, is now a beautiful showcase for some of the best contemporary realist artists working today.

The centerpiece of the show was artist and GCA instructor Colleen Barry's “Portrait of Jamaal.” This most recent oil portrait by the figurative expert was inspired by her summer travels through the rich antiquity of central Italy. “I wanted to place a contemporary subject in a classical triangular composition” said Ms. Barry. “Jamaal's eye aligns almost perfectly in the horizontal center of the canvas.” The result is a balanced and unified image with an engaging central emphasis. “The trick with working from the live model is always trying to do more with less [time].” Ms. Barry certainly makes the most of her model time with varied paint application and calculated moments of heightened visual interest.

Other focal points of the show included seascapes by Edward Minoff and Jacob Collins, Self portraits by Will St. John and Josh LaRock and Still Lifes by Michael Klein and Sam Hung. Sculptural pieces were highlighted by Kate Lehman's Bronze “Roman,” a striking depiction of the artist's two year old son standing poised seemingly before his own awaiting future.

The Eleventh Street Arts gallery occupies the front-most quarters of a sprawling 12,000 square foot space that is the new home of the Grand Central Atelier, having moved from their Midtown Manhattan location last August. After viewing the featured work, guests were encouraged to explore the adjoining studios to see what was currently on the easels of the resident artists and apprentices of GCA. Works in progress and those recently finished were on view (and on sale), also giving the public the opportunity to meet the artists in their own work environment.

Patrick Byrnes, GCA Resident Artist and Eleventh Street Arts Manager, who both coordinated and showed in the exhibition has high aspirations for the gallery “With an exciting and diverse program of professional solo/group shows, exhibitions, lectures and social events, our goal is to promote and celebrate the best contemporary talents working in a classically inspired representational mode,” said Mr. Byrnes. "We hope that eventually the gallery can become an important hub for education, conversation, and connoisseurship in the Long Island City arts scene."

The inaugural group show will remain on display through January 23, 2015, with viewing available by appointment. To schedule a visit or make a purchase inquiry, please contact Eleventh Street Arts Gallery Manager Patrick Byrnes at eleventhstreetarts@gmail.com.

Coming up this spring; a small group show of alla prima floral paintings and large group exhibition surveying contemporary figure drawing methods.

Be sure to stay connected with Eleventh Street Arts via their Instragram feed http://instagram.com/eleventh_street_arts and with their soon to be launced official website. 

Contributed by Al Costanzo - GCA Core Artist and Blogger
Photography by Mariana Hernández-Rivera

HRF 2015 & Sculpture Competition Deadlines Extended to January 16.

It's been a whirlwind of events here at GCA since the start of Fall. We've done everything from moving to a great new location, constructing a new gallery and artist lounge, and finally having our hugely successful Inaugural Opening Show last Friday.  So in order to give the Fellowship and Sculpture competition their due attention we are moving their deadlines to January 16th. Whew! Check out the images below from last years fellowship.

 Hudson River Fellowship 

Every year the Fellowship kicks off with a welcoming party. 

There are several lectures throughout the fellowship provided by the Jackson Historical Society. 

Fellows visit the Jackson Museum to learn about the area mountains before heading off to paint.

Birch tree portrait by Leeanna Chipana

Fellows paint sunsets together at various locations several times a week.
Pictured left to right: Cesar Santos, Jessica Artman, Eric Koeppel, Charlie Mostow, Bethann Moran, Kadin Goldberg, Leeanna Chipana, Tony Winters.

2014 Fellow Bethann Moran.

2014 Fellow Jennifer Keltos

Artists watch a painting demonstration by Tom Kegler.

End of week critiques take place at Eric and Lauren's house. Eric and Lauren along with visiting artists and Sr. Fellows offer critiques. Past visiting artists include; Jacob Collins, Ted Minoff, Tom Kegler, Ken Salaz,  Rick Piloco and more.

Pictured above: Ken Salaz with workshop artist.

2014 Fellows take a much needed break and dine together at a local brick oven restaurant.

How to Apply to the Fellowship

You'll need to get your artists statement ready and submit 5 - 7 images of your best representational work.  Read more details about the Hudson River Fellowship Application process by clicking here. For the HRF 2015 application form click here.

Workshops with Lauren Sansaricq, Ken Salaz, Erik Koeppel and Tom Kegler will be offered this Summer. Stay tuned, workshop details coming soon. Click here to join our email list.

Sculpture Competition Extended to January 16th. Click here to learn more.

Grand Opening Party and Group Show in our Long Island City Studio! THIS FRIDAY, December 5!

We're not in Midtown anymore....

Kick off the holiday season festivities with a visit to our new Long Island City location on Friday, December 5th for a group show and opening party!

Our gallery space, Eleventh Street Arts will feature over 90 works by 50 different artists! Tour the 12,000 square foot building and visit resident-artist studios featuring additional works for sale. Enjoy refreshments.

DATE: Friday, December 5, 6-10pm

ADDRESS: 4606 11th Street, Long Island City Queens, 11101

NEARBY SUBWAYS: Court Square (E, M, 7, G), Vernon-Jackson (7-train), 21st Street (G-train)

Design by Mariana Hernandez-Rivera

Josh LaRock Exhibition Opens This Friday! New Landscape Paintings from the South of France!

You are invited to an exhibition opening of new landscape paintings by Josh LaRock. The reception opens at 7pm and will take place at the studio he shares with painter Michael Klein at 508 E 117th Street in NYC. On display will be stunning landscapes he began this summer during a 10-day residency at the Chateau de la Napoule in the South of France.

Both Josh, and landscape painter Tom Kegler, were the first fellows selected to attend a landscape painting residency being developed by the GCA in partnership with the La Napoule Art Foundation. For 10 days this past July, Josh and Tom lived and worked on the grounds of the 14th century chateau overlooking the sea. As evidenced by the studies and finished paintings, the painters found plenty to paint on the grounds, the surrounding six acres of gardens and the nearby natural areas.

The La Napoule Art Foundation was created in 1951 and has worked with artists from all over the world hosting performances, residencies and exhibitions for sixty years. The organization is eager to bring more classically-trained artists into their programming. Tom and Josh were excellent ambassadors! Stay tuned for more details on this fellowship.

Join Josh this Friday at 7pm for the opening reception: 

Address: 508 East 117th Street, Third Floor, NYC

Inquiries: 917-226-1239 or studio@joshualarock.com

Studio Prize Winners!

We are pleased to announce our 2013-2014 studio prize winners! The awards will be applied towards fees in 2014-2015. We'd like to thank the Morris and Alma Schapiro Fund and the Anders Larson-Toich Foundation for their ongoing generosity in supporting the learning of artists in our full time studio. The prizes have been awarded for outstanding work.

Scroll down for a list of the prizes and images!

Morris and Alma Schapiro Fund Scholarship
Drawing Casts
$5,000 - Mary Jane Ward
$2,500 - Al Costanza

Figure Block-ins
$2,500 - Kevin Muller

Drawing the Figure - Best Group of Figure Works
A tie between...
$5,000 - Rebecca Gray
$5,000 - Jon Brogie (with a focus on structure)

For Excellent Scholarship
$2,500 - Kristin Nikitin, for portraits
$2,500 - Andrew Payne, for work in cast painting and figure structure

Anders Larson-Toich Memorial Scholarship
For Excellent Scholarship
$2,500 - Katie Engberg, for work in portrait, figure and cast painting
$2,500 - Grant Perry, for cast painting

Drawing by Grant Perry

"Shay" by Andrew Payne

"Santiago" by Katie Engberg

Figure by Kevin Muller

Portrait Painting by Kristin Nikitin

Cast Drawing Mary Jane Ward

"Shay" by Rebecca Gray

"Santiago Kneeling" by Jon Brogie

Cast Drawing by Al Costanza