Gib Singleton

In 2015 the Museum of Biblical Art displayed 14 life-sized Singleton bronze sculptures.

Gilbert Jerome "Gib" Singleton (1935 – February 28, 2014) was an American sculptor. Classically trained, he is considered to be a modern master of bronze sculpture. His primary sources of subject matter are the Bible and the American Old West.

Singleton died at his home at Santa Fe, New Mexico on February 28, 2014. He is survived by his third wife, Evangeline Harris-Singleton; two of his four children, Shelly Jay Kinder Singleton and Sherri Kay Dooley; three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren; three step-children and four step-grandchildren,; one of two brothers and one of two sisters and several nieces and nephews; two former wives; and his two loyal, companion dogs.

The work of Singleton, along with that of painter Earl Biss, encouraged a group of collectors of their art to develop the Singleton-Biss Museum of Fine Art in Santa Fe, to share their joint collection of the works of "contemporary American visual artists." The museum opened to the public in 2008.

After graduating from high school, Singleton enlisted in the army. He then worked his way through college at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE), graduating in 1967 with a Bachelor of Arts in art education. Upon graduating from SIUE, he won a full scholarship to the Art Institute of Chicago where his work earned him a Fulbright Scholarship. He used this to study the works of the Renaissance art masters at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence, Italy. While there, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis requested that he assist with the restoration of flood damaged art in Florence.

Born Gilbert Singleton in Kennett, Missouri in 1936, he began developing his artistic abilities at an early age, using whatever materials were available to a young farm boy. He won his first art prize at the age of nine, taking a blue ribbon at the Dunklin County Fair. At age 16, he became interested in bronze and built his own foundry, using a cut down steel 55 gallon drum, a discarded vacuum cleaner, and trial and error.