Student Work - January & February

Hello! By request from our Readers, we will re-double efforts to post images of student work at least monthly. Enjoy this selection of work by students in the Water Street Atelier, GCA's full-time, four-year program.

Please also consider finding GCA's page on Facebook
where student and teacher work is shared almost daily. Click here!

By Matt Weigle

By Brendan Johnston

By Katie Whipple

By Jaime Morren

By Mark Popple

By Jaime Morren

By Brendan Johnston

By Rodrigo Mateo

By Michelle Palatnik

By Andrew Bonneau

By Liz Beard

By Susan Wu

By Sally Cochrane

By Sarah Bird

By Anthony Baus

By Susan Wu

By Matt Weigle

By Rodrigo Mateo

By Anthony Baus

By Alex Berrios

By Grant Perry

By Andrew Bonneau

By Matt Weigle

By Liz Beard

By Grant Perry

By Niki Covington

By Rebecca Gray

Announcing the Anders Larson-Toich Memorial Scholarship

Thanks to the generous support of the Anders Larson-Toich Foundation, the GCA will now annually award a tuition scholarship of $1250 to one of its students.  Just as Anders Larson-Toich discovered a passion for the kind of drawing taught at GCA, this earnest spirit will be honored in another, in his name.

The Anders Larson-Toich Foundation joins our existing list of generous supporters, the Alfred and Jane Ross Foundation, the Newington-Cropsey Foundation and the Morris and Alma Schapiro Fund.

Anders on a Summer Day

Anders Larson-Toich packed a great deal into life before cancer took him at 23. He was born in New York, NY on December 27, 1984. He lived in a number of New York’s neighborhoods and absorbed much of the rich traditions that this city’s myriad cultures have to offer. He attended private, public and parochial schools,  each offering a different learning experience. He applied and was accepted to the prestigious LaGuardia High School on New York’s Upper West Side in their Fine Arts program. During his junior year, he was diagnosed with sarcoma and began a course of chemotherapy, surgery and radiation treatments that proved debilitating enough that he had to be home-schooled all of his senior year. Yet he still managed to graduate from LaGuardia.

Despite all this, he continued on with his life, enjoying friends, art, music and trips to his favorite city, London. He put together a portfolio and was accepted at The Parsons School of Design. Once again, the burden of treatment proved to be too much for him to continue at Parsons. During one of his recovery periods from treatment, his cousin sent him a link to a truly unique and magical place, The Grand Central Academy of Art. He had finally found a place that was close to his artistic heart. He spoke to everybody about the school and extolled its virtues.

Unfortunately, in late 2007, he was unable to continue at the Academy due to the progression of his illness. In April 2008, Anders lost his long battle with cancer and passed away. His style, uniqueness and love of life will always be a continuing inspiration to us all.

-Frank Larson-Toich

GCA Open Studio Night in Review

The open studio night at the GCA saw a great turn-out from the public and New York arts community, with all four studios packed with a menagerie of artwork and onlookers. The Epoch Times covered the event and the process of study at GCA and the BAA in an article that can be read here.

We look forward to hosting another open studio night in the future - until then, here are some photos to recap the evening!

Admiring Sam Hung's  still life

Conversing in the Sculpture Hall

Life studies in clay

Emilie Lee's (GCA instructor) work in progress landscape of the White Mountains

Work in the figure studio

Congratulations to the 2013 Hudson River Fellows!

Jacob Collins painting at Jackson Falls (2012)

And the 2013 Fellowship Goes To....

Olena Babak, Brandon Beckstrom, Challen Berg, Alex Berrios, Sarah Bird, Terra Chapman, Hamborg Chapman, Leeanna Chipana, Mark Cummings, Daniel daSilva, Zoe Dufour, Sarah Gibson, Ione Hunter Gordon, Brendan Johnston, Robin Kappy, Rodrigo Mateo, James Morren, Charlie Mostow, Michelle Palatnik, Rachel Personett, Mark Popple, Kresten Smedemark, Savannah Tate Cuff, and Matt Weigle!

Christina Mastrangelo Sketches at Jackson Falls on the first morning of HRF 2012

Twenty-four landscape painters have been selected to study and paint the landscapes surrounding Jackson, New Hampshire in the White Mountain National Forest.  During this three-week fellowship in July, painters will work daily from dawn til dusk to produce field studies (pencil drawings, tonal studies, plein air sketches) that will inform larger studio paintings later. Weekly lectures will cover history, science and the methods and materials of 19^th Century landscape painters who flocked to this region. 

Lodging five minutes outside of Jackson, fellows will bunk together in cozy ski chalets with stunning mountain views.  Besides collaborating artistically, fellows will also work together to keep food and garbage sealed up tight. Last summer, plenty of brown bear (plus moose, deer & fox) ambled around looking for their lucky sandwich (no worries, they are not interested dining on people -- painters or not!)

Each year the GCA schedules simultaneous landscape painting workshops. Workshops students and Fellows come together for lectures & other informal gatherings.  At the end of the three-weeks, the Jackson Historical Society hosts a Fellowship Exhibition in the Old Town Hall at the center of town.

2012 Exhibition: Zoey Frank (top left), Shihwen Wu (3 pieces bottom left), Rebecca Gray (sunsets and falls study) 

 Click here to view artwork from the 2012 Fellowship and a Thomas Kegler Glazing Demo!

Click here to view 19th Century landscape paintings painted in this area in New Hampshire!

Schedule of 2013 Landscape Painting Classes & Events: 

March 23 & 24 – Foreground Studies with Emilie Lee (NYC)

April 6 & 7 – Traditional Landscape Painting with Tom Kegler (NYC)

July 15 – August 3 - Hudson River Fellowship

July 17 – 20 – Traditional Landscape Painting with Tom Kegler (NH)

July 21 – 24 - Foreground Studies with Emilie Lee (NH)

July 25 – August 3, Techniques of the Hudson River School with Erik Koeppel & Lauren Sansaricq (NH) (shared housing available for 10-day workshops)

Erik Koeppel invites Fellows & Students to visit his Jackson Studio (2012)

• To enroll, email: gcaclasses@gmail.com
• To read more about GCA's summer workshops, click here! 
• For GCA's upcoming springtime workshops, click here!

Fellow Spencer Brainard sketches while a Jackson man takes an early morning dip behind the falls! (2012)

2014 Fellowship applications will be due in February, 2014. Stay tuned to Facebook & our Blog!

GCA & BAA Open Studio Night!

If you're in the NYC area, don't miss our Open Studio event from 6-8PM this Thursday, the 21st. The event will be held on the school grounds at 20 West 44th St, Manhattan. It will be an excellent showcase of all the work that is done at GCA/WSA, illustrating the process of study throughout cast, figure, still life, landscape and sculpture work.

Family of Trinkets
Sam Hung
oil on linen

You are also invited to visit the Beaux Arts Atelier (BAA) located on the 3rd floor which is hosting an Open House and Information Session from 6-8pm.

Both the GCA and the BAA are part of the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art. There will be beautiful work on display and refreshments on both floors!

Monday Portraits

Another batch of four hour portraits from the Monday afternoon session.

Leeanna Chipana

Katie Engberg

Adrienne Stanger

Audrey Rodriguez

Joseph Loomis

Michelle Palatnik

Sarah Bird

Jacob Collins

Rick Piloco