Gale Fulton Ross (born 1947) is a prolific African American visual artist living in Sarasota, Florida.
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Gale Fulton Ross was born in Medford, Massachusetts, in 1947, the oldest of nine children.[1]
She graduated from the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston, where she explored a wide variety of styles and media including sculpture.[2] She continued her art education at the California College of Arts and Crafts in San Francisco, where she earned a Master’s of Fine Arts in painting.[3] In addition to formal academic training she has studied under the guidance of established artists, including Melvin Johnson, at the Vesper George School of Art, Boston; Cleveland Bellow, of the DeYoung Museum, Oakland California; and Pierre Parsus, of France.
Initially trained as an art curator, Fulton Ross traveled extensively throughout Africa, Europe and as far east as China in order to study, teach, and paint. However painting quickly became her main focus. She developed a reputation early in her career as a portrait artist, and has created likenesses of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Justice Thurgood Marshall, A. Philip Randolph, Arthur Ashe, and Governor Michael Dukakis, among others.[4] In 2009, she was selected to paint the portrait of Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber.[5]
Fulton Ross has cited several classical artists as influences on her work, including Michelangelo, Da Vinci, and Rembrandt,[6] as well as modern day African American masters like Elizabeth Catlett, Charles Wilbert White, Beauford Delaney, and Romare Bearden. Her style incorporates both the abstract and the figurative, as reflected in her eclectic creations. She believes that artists are the humanistic conscience of a materialistic society.[7] Her visual expressions most often depict poignant images of people, especially African American women, reflecting her philosophy that it is the depth and variety of human feelings that motivates art, and indeed that she must become a more sensitive human in order to be a better artist.[8]
In that regard she has dedicated considerable time to mentoring and creating opportunities for younger artists as the founder of the Fulton-Ross Fund for Visual Artists of Sarasota County, which provides a supportive environment and awards competitive grants to those just beginning their careers.
Work Study Project, People's Republic of China, Summer 1993; Fellowship, La Napoule Art Foundation (France), Winter 1990; Atlanta Life Painters Award, 1990; Winner-Best of show 1994, Bay Area African American Florida Competition; West Coast Center for Human Development, 1996 Humanitarian Award; Nation Coalition of 100 Black Women, Arts & Humanity Award, Pennsylvania, 1992; Highest Achiever, Women’s History Month Competition, Tempo Magazine, Sarasota, March 2008
Edward Littlejohn, Sarasota, FL[9]
National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington DC
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Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise |
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Archbishop Desmond Tutu |