About
Artist Statement
I make art to be submerged in living experience, using painting, installation, textiles or sculpture, to create metaphorical spaces where I see my life, and invite viewers to see their lives, as part of a larger communal epic. Early work in theatre, dance and opera design gave me a heightened appreciation of spatial surroundings. My primary concentration has been painting, which expanded to murals. Moving into three-dimensional spaces has led to large woven public installations that pull the viewer into complex contemporary issues.
I see myself as an American, carrying on the tradition of building a New World.
Work History
Recent Solo Exhibitions
2018
Mother & Daughter: Pauline Parker & Margaret Parker, Paintings and Textiles, Ann Arbor District Library, Ann Arbor, MI.
2014
Light Shines through Us, participatory community project, commissioned by the Wyandotte Street Art Fair, community partners Downriver Council for the Arts, Wyandotte, MI.
2013
Living Memory, participatory installation, Icehouse Museum, Linwood, MI.
2011
Shirts & Skins, Reflections Gallery, Finlandia University International School of Art and sign, Hancock, MI.
2007
Shirts & Skins: Margaret Parker, Ann Arbor Art Center, Ann Arbor, MI.
2005
Shirts & Skins, installation, Lloyd Hall Scholars, University of Mich., Ann Arbor, MI
2005
Temple Series, digital prints, University of Michigan Hospital, Ann Arbor, MI
2004
Dark Shores, watercolor, Ypsilanti District Library, Ypsilanti, MI
2004
Acts of Nature, watercolors, University of Michigan Life Sciences Complex, Ann Arbor, MI.
2004
Threads: Watercolors & Tapestry, Wolverine Towers, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
2002
Testament: Twin Towers Series, mixed media, Ann Arbor City Hall, Ann Arbor, MI.
Recent Group Exhibitions
2018
Dear Womanhouse, What Now?, Art Kettle, Manchester, MI.
2018
Guns: Artists Respond, Swords into Plowshares Gallery, Detroit, MI.
2018
Sculpture Show, Riverside Arts Center, Ypsilanti, MI.
2018
Women’s History Month Exhibit, Riverside Arts Center, Ypsilanti, MI.
2015
Making Connections: Members +1, Marygrove College Gallery, Detroit, sponsored by the Women’s Caucus for Art, MI.
2014
Member Show, 555 Gallery, Detroit, MI.
2013
Eye on the D: Seeing Detroit with New Eyes, group show, 555 Gallery, Detroit, MI. Jurors Cynthia Greig & Bethany Shorb; sponsored by the Women’s Caucus for Art, MI.
2013
Bound, group show, Phoenix Gallery, New York, NY. Juror Cora Rosevear, Assistant Curator for Painting and Sculpture, MoMA.
2012
Broad Without Walls, group show, outdoor installation for opening of the Broad Art Museum, East Lansing, MI.
2012
Man Up!, group show, University of Michigan Duderstadt Gallery, Ann Arbor, MI, sponsored by the Women's Caucus for Art, MI.
2012
Ann Arbor Film Festival, 50 Screens, 50th Anniversary Off-Site Show, Ann Arbor, MI.
2012
Momentum, 40th Anniversary of the Women's Caucus for Art, group show, 825 Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.Juror Rita Gonzalez, Associate Curator, Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art.
2011
Windsor Biennial 2011, group show, Art Gallery of Windsor, Windsor, ON, Canada.
2011
Reiteration, four person show, Buckham Gallery, Flint, MI.
2011
City Streets, group show, outdoor exhibition, Lansing Art Gallery, Lansing, MI.
2011
Hidden Cites, group show, New Century Artists Gallery, New York, NY, sponsored by the national Women’s Caucus for Art.
2010
New Fabrics 2010, group show, University Gallery, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI.
2010
ArtPrize, group show, selected by Frederick Meijer Gardens for Calder Plaza, Grand Rapids, MI.
2010
Fates: an Installation, group show, River Gallery, Chelsea, MI.
2010
Balance, gjroup show, Duderstadt Gallery, University of Michigan, Women's Caucus for Art MI, Ann Arbor, MI; traveled to 3 more sites in Michigan: River's Edge Gallery, Wyandotte; The Reflection Gallery, Finlandia University, Hancock; Holland Area Arts Council, Holland, MI.
2010
drawing the line, group show, Beverly Arts Center, sponsored by Women's Caucus for Art, Chicago, IL.
2009
ArtPrize, group show, 53 Commerce, Grand Rapids, MI.
2009
Home:Loving It, Losing It, Leaving It, group show, Duderstadt Gallery, U. of Michigan, sponsored by the Women's Caucus for Art, Ann Arbor, MI.
2009
Material Afterlife, Urban Institute of Contemporary Art, Grand Rapids, MI.
2009
Like Water on Rock, group show, American Jewish University, Los Angeles, CA; traveled to Finegood Art Gallery, Jewish Federation Valley Alliance, West Hills, CA; Gotthelf Art Gallery, San Diego Center for Jewish Culture La Jolla, CA.
2008
A Place at the Table, Women's Caucus for Art MI, Ann Arbor Art Center, Ann Arbor, MI
2008
The Third Annual Human Rights Show, gorup show, South Texas College, traveled to the University of Texas Pan American; Universidad de Monterey, Mexico; and Progreso Art Gallery, Progreso, Mexico.
2008
In the Beginning, group show, Women's Caucus for Art, Dallas Women's Museum, Dallas, TX.
2007
Windsor Biennial, group show, Art Gallery of Windsor, Ontario, CA.
2007
Sync07, digital / video / multimedia show, Duderstadt Gallery, University of MI, Ann Arbor, MI.
2007
Contemporary Women Artists XIV, group show, Mad Art Gallery, Womens Caucus for Art St. Louis, St. Louis, MO.
2007
All Media Show, group show, Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit, Detroit, MI.
2007
Venus of Willendorf: Redefining the Goddess, group show; part of the national Feminist Art Project sponsored by Rutgers University, Duderstadt Gallery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
2006
Reflections of War, Threads of Peace, group show, Woven Arts, East Lansing, MI.
2006
Sync06, digital & multimedia show, Duderstadt Gallery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
2005
Michigan Annual XXXIII, group show, Art Center, Mt. Clemens, MI.
2005
Point of Departure, group show, digital prints, Pakzieski Gallery, Dearborn, MI.
2004
Point of Departure, group show, digital prints, Henry Ford Community College, Dearborn, MI.
Public Art Projects
2003
Sun Dragon, designer, 60 long public sculpture part of a renewable energy demonstration project at Ann Arbor Fuller Pool. City of Ann Arbor, MI.
1997-04
Urban Courtyard, designer, 5561 sq. ft. Parking lot becomes an urban sanctuary with conservatory surrounded by pleached hedge. Downtown Home & Garden, Ann Arbor, MI.
1997
Adams Elementary School Mural, enamel; designer and painter 800 sq. ft. Lobby dances with bright color, familiar objects, numbers and text. Adams Elementary School, Castine, ME.
1995-96
Castine Bicentennial Quilt, fabric; designer, 144 sq. ft. A year long community based project involved 60 townspeople in depicting 200 year history. Castine Historical Society, Castine, ME.
1995
Planetarium Horizon Mural, acrylic; project coordinator, 56 sq. ft. Middle school students drew 360 degree mural from scenes of to for college planetarium. Joint project of Adams School and Maine Maritime Academy, Castine, ME.
1989
Castine Peninsula Mural, casein; designer and painter, 1120 sq. ft. Surrounds dining room of 1898 summer hotel with views of varied habitat of the peninsula. Castine Inn, Castine, ME.
1987-95
Castine Inn Garden, designer, 7200 sq. ft. Three garden rooms with 75 ft. rock wall, bridge over small stream for use by customers and open to the public. Castine Inn, Castine, ME.
Murals and Commissions
2013
Living Memory, community participation woven installation for the Icehouse Museum, Linwood, MI.
1998
Weatherscape, casein and metallic; designer and painter, 840 sq. ft., private home. Ann Arbor, MI.
1996
Dyce's Head, casein; designer and painter, 126 sq. ft., private home. Castine, ME.
1991
Elms of Court Street, casein, designer and painter, 250 sq. ft., private home. Castine, ME.
1985-86
Light Path, casein; designer and painter, 1494 sq. ft., private home. New York, NY.
1979
Summer Rain, tapestry; designer, woven in Egypt, 99 sq. ft., commission, Ann Arbor, MI.
1977
Earle Project, terra cotta reliefs, designer and producer, Earle Development Project, Ann Arbor, MI.
Collections, Selected Listing
United States Capitol Building, Washington, D.C.
State Department Art Bank, Washington, D.C.
Maine Maritime Academy, Castine, ME
University of Michigan Racham Graduate School, Ann Arbor, MI
Saint Joseph Mercy Hospital, Ann Arbor, MI
Chelsea Medical Center, Chelsea, MI
Stein & Moran Attorneys, Ann Arbor, MI
Diamond Bullet Website Developer, Ann Arbor, MI
Noah Adams, PBS, "All Things Considered", Washington, D.C.
Ernie and Denna Harburg, New York, NY
Jacobson's Department Store, Lansing, MI
Non-profit Art Organization
2014-
Parker Art Legacy, LLC; a project organized by the Parker family to preserve and promote the work of Pauline and Gilbert Parker. Margaret Parker, Director.
2000-4
Art Pro Tem, founder and Director of community based nonprofit organization that sponsored temporary outdoor installations in nontraditional spaces. Ann Arbor, MI.
Awards
2000
Nominated, Governor's Award, Michigan Council on Arts and Cultural Affairs, Lansing, MI.
1997
Juried Public Art Roster, Maine Arts Commission, Augusta, ME.
1978
Artists-In-The- Schools Program, Michigan Council for the Arts, Detroit, MI.
Grants
2013
Bay Area Community Foundation, for Icehouse Museum, “Living Memory", Linwood, MI.
2002
Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs Mini Grant, Art Pro Tem show, "Hear Here", Ann Arbor, MI.
2001
Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs Mini Grant, public sculpture, Sun Dragon, City of Ann Arbor, MI.
2001
Michigan Energy Office Renewable Energy Demonstration Grant, public sculpture, Sun Dragon, City of Ann Arbor, MI.
2001
Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation Grant, public sculpture, Sun Dragon, Ann Arbor, MI.
Publications
2014
Driving Music: In 2000 silver Taurus, I drive Glen Gould and J. S. Bach through 32 Goldbeg Variatons from parking lot to paking lot, poetry chapbook, Amazon.com.
1991
Michigan Today, "The Alphabet of Color", p. 8-9, February, 1991.
1989
Stations: the Way of the Cross, text by Daniel Berrigan, photos of terra cotta reliefs, "Stations", by Margaret Parker, Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc., San Francisco, CA.
1986
New York Artists, by Les Krantz, American References, Chicago.
1980
Detroit Free Press Magazine, "Tapestry in United Staes Capitol" p. 18-21, Oct. 12.
Boards
2007-
Women's Caucus for Art, Michigan Chapter, President 2015, founding member.
2004 -10
City of Ann Arbor Public Art Commission, Chair from 2006-10, Ann Arbor, MI.
2000 - 04
Citizens Advisory Council to the Downtown Development Authority, Ann Arbor, MI.
1997-99
Downtown Public Art Committee, Ann Arbor, MI.
Education
1981-2 Polakov Studio & Forum of Stage Design, New York, NY
1969 University of Michigan School of Art and Design, AnnArbor, MI, BFA
1967 Assistant to U.S.A. Designer Donald Soulé, Bennington Work Term, Loeb Drama Center, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
1965-7 BenningtonCollege,Bennington,VT
1960-1 School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL