Paul Fullerton: Forces of Nature

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Born in Minnesota and raised in Fort Myers, Paul Fullerton earned his bachelor’s degree in fine arts from the University of Florida in 1967 under the late Hiram Williams. He received his master’s degree in painting, printmaking, and sculpture in 1969 from the University of Illinois. While serving as associate professor of sculpture at Wayne State University in Detroit, he developed the molding and casting process that is characteristic of a large and important body of his work – the cast metal reliefs that will be on view in the Polk Museum of Art Sculpture Garden this summer and fall. 

Most of his large works, which are also great feats of engineering, are located throughout the state of Florida and were sold and placed as part of Florida’s Art in State Buildings program. Nike, Fullerton’s first major sculpture commission, was completed in 1975. Located in Miami’s Biscayne Bay, the sculpture measures fifty feet tall, weighs about one ton, and is mounted on a radial bearing system to turn with the wind. Fullerton spent the last years of his life living and working between Miami and Micanopy, Florida. ​

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website

Image: Paul Fullerton, Cayocosta Rondo, cast aluminum