PERSON: Barbara Parker

Virginia Commission for the Arts

Commissioner

Barbara Bailey Parker served 19 years as Director of Programs for Piedmont Arts, a museum and arts center in Martinsville, Virginia where Ms. Parker’s responsibilities included presenting the annual performing arts series, educational outreach programming, and creating family days to support gallery exhibits. During her time as an arts administrator, she researched and wrote grant applications that resulted in more than $400,000 in funding for Piedmont Arts and TheatreWorks, a community theater in Martinsville where she also volunteers in marketing and production.

Ms. Parker retired from Piedmont Arts in 2016 after the death of her daughter, journalist Alison Parker, to create the For Alison Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing arts opportunities for children in southern Virginia. She also was recently appointed a Area II Commissioner for the Virginia Commission for the Arts, representing the arts organizations of southern Virginia.

She hopes to honor her daughter’s memory the way she lived - with a passion for life and the belief that the arts can make a difference.

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