Artist lecture to explore creative inspiration

  The Malden Public Library will present “Moments in Creativity: A Talk with artist Gale Fulton Ross” on Tuesday, April 12 at 1 p.m. The artist’s talk will be followed by the opening of the Converse Galleries’ newest exhibition: “Modern Sojourner / Sojourner Truth’s Malden.” The new exhibition runs through May 31.

  Registration is required to attend the talk and light luncheon, and spaces are limited. To register and for more information about gallery hours and group tours, contact the Malden Public Library at 781-324-0218. The event is funded in part by the Friends of the Malden Public Library.

  In October 2012, the Fulton Ross Group was awarded a $500,000 contract funded by The National Endowment for the Arts to design a gateway public art installation in Opa-locka, Florida. Called “Many Voices, One Story,” the installation centered on a monumental, 30-foot high sculpture of an inspirational matriarch, complemented by an interactive program to engage local residents and raise awareness of art. The painting “Modern Sojourner” is a Fulton Ross tour de force done in her signature figurative style, capturing the wisdom and strength of the family matriarch, a reprise of the theme of the artist’s massive public artwork in Opa-locka.

  Fulton Ross was raised in Malden, the oldest of nine children. Fulton Ross displayed an aptitude for art at a very young age, which was nurtured by her father, Herman Fulton, himself an accomplished but unheralded automobile designer. He frequently referred to her as “baby artist.” Fulton Ross studied at the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston, where she explored a wide variety of styles and media, including sculpture. She also attended the California College of Arts and Crafts in San Francisco, concentrating in the study of Fine Arts and Art History. In addition to college training, she studied under the guidance of established artists, including Melvin Johnson, at the Vesper George School of Art, Boston; Cleveland Bellow, of the DeYoung Museum, San Francisco, California; and Pierre Parsus, of France. The Malden Public Library is honored to have three other works by Fulton Ross in its permanent collection.

  Early in her career, Fulton Ross traveled extensively throughout Africa, Europe and as far east as China, in order to study and paint. Fulton Ross cites several modern-day African-American masters as influences on her work, primarily Charles White, Elizabeth Catlett, Samella Lewis, and Beauford Delaney, as well as the classical masters Michelangelo, DaVinci and Rembrandt.

  Her work incorporates both the figurative and the abstract. She has become a highly regarded portrait artist whose portfolio includes commissions for many leading professionals, celebrities and politicians. Among them are Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Justice Thurgood Marshall, Governors Michael Dukakis and L. Douglas Wilder and author and activist James Baldwin as well as professional athletes Jackie Robinson and Arthur Ashe.

  Fulton Ross continues to create, driven by the passion of her life. She works from her studios in Camarillo, California, and Sarasota, Florida.