Region 6 Commissioner, Chair

Meet Your Commissioner

How have the arts impacted you?

The impact has been enormous! I grew up in a small town but was involved in community theater, majored in theater in college, married an actor, and was program director for a museum for many years. The arts have enriched my life beyond measure.

How have you seen the arts impact Virginians?

I have seen an impact to local students who have seen musicians and theater companies who perform in their schools; by high school students who receive an arts scholarship to college from a local arts agency; by public art in my community that makes it a more creative place to live, and by the full houses at our local community theater and summer festival. There is a hunger for art in even the smallest communities, and people respond when given the opportunity to experience it. I love seeing someone take an art class for the first time and say, “I am not creative”, then making something beautiful! The arts empower people of all ages and the work the VCA does is so important in helping Virginians find and mobilize the creativity inside of them.

What might someone be surprised to know about you?

I was a flight attendant for ten years because it allowed me to follow my actor boyfriend/now husband around the country while he was on tour and to travel and experience other cultures. I loved it.

If you could be a world class artist, what would you be/do?

I would be a mobile artist. The first time I saw one of Alexander Calder’s mobiles I was blown away. The simple combination of shapes and movement is like watching the clouds drift – a mobile is a shapeshifter that is never the same.

If you had to say what your superpower was, what might that be?

I’ve always believed in the power of thinking “what if……?” Ideas don’t always work, but the magic is trying new ways of doing things. It’s never boring!

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Barbara Parker brings a wealth of experience and a deep passion for all arts disciplines to the VCA. She served for 19 years as Director of Programs at Piedmont Arts, an accredited museum in Southside Virginia. Her commitment to arts advocacy is also demonstrated through her previous roles as a board member of the Virginia Presenters Network, the North Carolina Presenters Consortium, and as one of the founders of TheatreWorks Community Players in Martinsville, VA. In addition to her professional and volunteer work in the arts, Parker founded the For Alison Foundation in 2016. This nonprofit organization, created in memory of her daughter, journalist Alison Parker, is dedicated to providing arts opportunities for youth in southern Virginia.