From Life: Figurative Art Competitions
An Oil Portrait Sketching Competition Hosted by Grand Central Atelier
Sunday, January 11, 2026, 10am – 3:30pm
This event has sold out.
Attention artists! Join us for a juried oil portrait painting competition hosted at Grand Central Academy in collaboration with Alex Katlan and From Life, Figurative Art Competitions. This one-day, on-site event invites artists from around the world to create works from life under a blind judging format. Painters will spend the day capturing the model’s likeness in oil, surrounded by the creative energy of fellow artists.
Three distinguished artists from the New York metropolitan art scene will serve as jurors; Rick Piloco, Colleen Barry and Jordan Sokol. Winners from the Summer 2025 competition invited to participate are Stephen Foster, David Baird & Patrick Okrasinski.
$3,500 in cash prizes! Limited to 48 artists.
Location
Grand Central Atelier in The Box Factory,
15-19 Decatur St. Suite 201
Ridgewood, NY 11385
Date & Time
Sunday, January 11, 2026
10:00am-3:30pm
Schedule
- 9:00 – 9:30 AM: Registration
- 9:30 AM: Lottery for easel assignment
- 10AM: Competition begins
- 12:00-12:30 PM: Lunch Break
- 12.30-3:30 PM: Competition Continues
- 3:30-4:30 PM: Competition is Juried
- 3:30 – 4:30 PM: Pizza & Group Photo
- 4:30 PM: Contest winners announced
- 4:30 PM: 5:00 PM Paintings may be viewed by the general public
Eligibility & Registration
The From Life Competition is open to all artists from ateliers, academies, schools, and studios both national and international.
- Limited to 48 artists (first-come, first-served basis)
- Fee: $55 general
Tickets will not be sold at the door.
All ticket sales are final. No refunds.
Prizes | $3,500
1st place | $2,000
2nd place | $1,000
3rd place Honorable Mention | $500
Cash prizes were made possible through the generous donation of GCA, private donations and ticket sales.
More Prizes
1st place | Chelsea Classical Studio Fine Art Materials +Kurian Frames $300 gift certificate
2nd place | Chelsea Classical Studio Fine Art Materials+ Kurian Frames $200 gift certificate
3rd place| Chelsea Classical Studio Fine Art Materials +Kurian Frames $100 gift certificate
Winners also receive a free ticket to the next From Life competition!
Thank you to Chelsea Classical Studio Fine Art Materials and Kurian Frames for the art materials certificates have been made available for all prizes.
Judging
- Judging is conducted blind.
- Do not sign your painting (signed works will be disqualified).
- Artists who prefer not to be judged may turn their canvas or remove it before jurying.
- All artists must leave the studios during the judging period.
Competition Details
- Each participant will draw a lottery number upon arrival to determine easel placement
- Monitors will guide artists to their designated studio and easel spots. (No swapping of lottery numbers.)
- Medium: Oil paint only (No turpentine allowed – use odorless mineral spirits or non-toxic substitute)
- Canvas size limit: 16” x 20”
- Four models across four studios
- 12–13 artists per model
- Each model will hold a five-hour pose (with 5-minute breaks every 20 minutes)
- Easels are provided by Grand Central Atelier (Artists may bring a clip light)
- Models may include drapery or accessories for portrait
Parking
Free parking on the streets of New York City is possible on Sunday Jan 11th.
Special Thank You To
Carole Teller, Ray Cisneros, and the four studio monitors.
Sponsors
Grand Central Atelier and private donations
Richard Piloco
Richard Piloco is an American painter and instructor. He received BFA from the School of Visual Arts, then continued his training at The Art Students League and the New York Academy of Figurative Art. Rick’s work has shown at numerous galleries across the United States and abroad, including numerous one-man and group shows at the Eleanor Ettinger Gallery, as well as group shows at John Pence Gallery in San Francisco, CA, Grenning Gallery in Sag Harbor, NY, Century Gallery in Alexandria, VA, The Forbes Galleries in New York, NY, Hirschl & Adler Gallery in New York, NY, ARC Gallery in Scottsdale, AZ, Diane Nelson Fine Arts in Pasadena, CA, The Bob Rauschenberg Gallery in Fort Myers, FL, the United States Embassy in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia and Abermarle Gallery in London, England. Rick’s work has also shown in juried exhibitions at SVA, the Salmagundi Club, the Society of Illustrators, Gallery on 2nd and American Artists Professional League.
Colleen Barry
Colleen’s paintings and drawings offer a rare synthesis of visual truth and pictorial simplicity. Her influences range from Michelangelo to Kathe Kollwitz. Her subjects include family members, friends, fellow artists, and self-portraits. A lifetime New Yorker, Colleen began her studies at the Art Students League when she was fourteen years old. She would later go on to apprentice with Sam Adoquei, Andrea Smith, and Jacob Collins. Colleen has been the recipient of the Newington Cropsey Travel Grant. In 2011 she received an Affiliate Fellowship to reside at the American Academy in Rome with her husband, Will St. John. Colleen paints and teaches privately out of her studio in Bushwick, Brooklyn. She has exhibited her paintings at Frost and Reed Gallery in NY and London, Robert Simon Fine Art Gallery in NYC, and at Arcadia Contemporary in Los Angeles, CA. She is currently the Drawing Director at the Grand Central Atelier in Long Island City, New York. Colleen teaches drawing and anatomy in GCA’s Core Program.
JORDAN SOKOL
Deane Keller Chair; Co-Artistic Director; and Director of Painting
Jordan studied and taught drawing and painting in Italy and Spain for eleven years before returning to the United States in 2014. In 2015 he participated in establishing the U.S. branch of The Florence Academy of Art in Jersey City, New Jersey, serving as its Academic Director for five years before joining the staff of the New York Academy of Art as an adjunct professor. Jordan’s work has been exhibited in galleries and museums throughout Europe and the United States, including London’s National Portrait Gallery, the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, and the Ulster Museum in Belfast as part of the 2015 BP Portrait Exhibition, and has been featured in numerous fine arts publications and books. Jordan’s intimate and psychologically-charged portraits conjure the depths and complexities of the human experience, using flesh and the human form as a narrative vehicle to explore themes of life, death, memory, and time. The impact of these meticulously layered paintings has reverberated with critics and collectors, who both look forward to opportunities to encounter and grapple with his work.