Of any race, gender, or time, Geraldine McCullough was one of history's most recognized Black sculptors, according to encyclopedia.com.

Her metallic sculptures combined abstract forms with identifiable representations, influenced by African ritual art, European expressionism, and modern American art.

Born in Kingston, Arkansas, in 1922, her family moved to Chicago when she was three years old. She was drawn to art at a young age and later attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1948.

Entering her career, McCullough received the John D. Steindecker and the Memorial scholarships. She was also awarded a citation for her figure painting skills, according to encyclopedia.com.

After graduation, McCullough accepted a job teaching art at Chicago's Wendell Phillips High School and taught at the school for 14 years, from 1950 to 1964.

To further her studies, she went back to school for a master’s degree in arts education in 1955 and around that time, her success as an artist and painter grew. By the late 1950s, her paintings were being shown in galleries across the U.S.

In 1961, she was awarded first place at Atlanta University's annual art exhibit, according to encyclopedia.com.

Her husband, Lester McCullough, Sr., introduced her to sculpting in the early 1960s. He was a welder and taught her the trade.

Her public debut as a sculptor came in 1963 when she participated in the American Negro Exposition in Chicago.

McCullough entered her steel and copper sculpture, “Phoenix,” in an exhibition at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art. She later won the George D. Widener Gold Medal in 1964, according to encyclopedia.com.

The George D. Widener Memorial Gold Medal was a prestigious sculpture prize awarded by the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts from 1913 to 1968.

McCullough was featured in the June 1964 issue of Ebony Magazine four months after the win.

From there, her talents took her to parts unknown. In 1966, the Russian government made her a distinguished guest artist, taking her on a tour of the Soviet Bloc that included stops in Moscow, Leningrad, Azerbaijan, and Prague.

She took over as head of the art department at Rosary College in River Forest, Illinois, which eventually changed its name to Dominican University in 1967, where she taught for 25 years. She received an honorary doctorate when she left the institution in 1989.

McCullough passed away on December 15, 2008, at the age of 91, according to encyclopedia.com.

Her sculptures can still be seen at the state capitol in Springfield, Missouri; the University of Illinois Chicago; Oak Park, Illinois at Village Hall; and the banks of the Fox River in Geneva, Illinois.