Gale Fulton Ross facts for kids

Gale Fulton Ross is an amazing African-American artist. She lives in Sarasota, Florida. She is mostly known for her paintings. But she also creates portraits, prints, and sculptures.

Life of Gale Fulton Ross

Gale Fulton Ross was born in Medford, Massachusetts, in 1947. She was the oldest of nine children.

She studied art at the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston. There, she tried many different art styles and materials. She also learned about sculpture. She continued her art education at the California College of Arts and Crafts in San Francisco. She focused on Fine Arts and art history. She also learned from famous artists like Melvin Johnson and Cleveland Bellow. She even studied with Pierre Parsus in France.

Gale Fulton Ross first trained to be an art curator. A curator is someone who manages and organizes art collections in museums. This job allowed her to travel a lot. She visited Africa, Europe, and even China to study and paint. In 1984, she was an artist living and working in Bellagio, Italy. She created an art show for the Rockefeller Foundation there. In 1993, she won an award to study in the People's Republic of China.

Early in her career, she became famous for her portraits. She painted many important people. These include Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Justice Thurgood Marshall, and Governor Michael Dukakis. In 2009, she was chosen to paint a portrait of Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Gale Fulton Ross's Art Philosophy

Fulton Ross says that many famous artists have influenced her work. These include classical artists like Michelangelo, Da Vinci, and Rembrandt. She also looks up to modern African-American artists. Some of these are Charles Wilbert White, Elizabeth Catlett, and Beauford Delaney.

Her art style mixes different ideas. It includes both realistic images (figurative) and abstract shapes. She believes that artists help society remember what is truly important. Her art often shows powerful images of people. She especially focuses on African American women. She feels that deep human feelings inspire art. She also believes that to be a better artist, she must become a more caring person.

Gale Fulton Ross also helps younger artists. She started the Fulton-Ross Fund for Visual Artists. This fund helps new artists in Sarasota County. It gives them support and grants to start their careers.

Awards and Recognition

Gale Fulton Ross has received many awards for her art.

• Work Study Project, People's Republic of China, 1993
• Fellowship, La Napoule Art Foundation (France), 1990
• Atlanta Life Painters Award, 1990
• Winner-Best of Show, Bay Area African American Florida Competition, 1994
• West Coast Center for Human Development, Humanitarian Award, 1996
• National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Arts & Humanity Award, Pennsylvania, 1992
• Highest Achiever, Women’s History Month Competition, Tempo Magazine, Sarasota, 2008

Art Collections

Gale Fulton Ross's artwork is part of important collections.

• National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C.
• University of Maryland, David C. Driskell Center, College Park, MD

Exhibitions and Shows

Gale Fulton Ross has shown her art in many places.

• Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise, Charles H. Wright Museum, Detroit, Michigan, 2011
• Beyond the Border, San Diego, California, 2009
• Ain’t I a Woman Too?!, Greenboro Cultural Center, Greenboro, North Carolina, 2005
• My Museum, multimedia installation, Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, Florida, 1999–2000
• Second World Festival of Black and African Arts and Culture, Lagos, Nigeria, 1977
• One-Woman Show, Governor's Office, Boston, Massachusetts, 1988-1989
• Zora Neal Hurston Museum, Solo Exhibition, 1994
• African American Museum, Tampa, Florida, One Woman Show, 1995

Commissioned Artworks

Many people and organizations have asked Gale Fulton Ross to create special artworks for them.

• Justice Thurgood Marshall
• Archbishop Desmond Tutu
• Congressman Ronald Dellums
• Governor Michael Dukakis
• Mayor Andrew Young
• James Baldwin, for the University of Massachusetts
• Jackie Robinson for Ms. Rachel Robinson
• A. Philip Randolph
• Arthur Ashe for the Arthur Ashe Foundation
• Bronze sculpture of Charles Hamilton Huston, North Carolina University
• Jacob Lawrence, a famous African American painter, and his wife, Artist Gwen Knight
• Absolut Vodka Ad Campaign (for Forbes Gallery)