Lisa K Parsons

Lisa Parsons is an artist and writer who has worked to expand interest in art by women, Native American artists, and innovative, new media such as interative sculpture and installations, often with a political slant. Her work as director of the Littman and White Galleries at Portland State University as well as public relations work she accomplished while working at the Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum in Long Island City, New York makes her notable in the world of visual art. Parsons was also notable for bringing the work of artists from Seattle, Los Angeles, and New York to the Portland area in the 1980s.

Parsons' visual art includes abstract expressionist paintings, mixed media works combining photography with painting and drawing, and figurative and architectural studies. Her paintings and mixed media works have been shown in the Janovec Gallery, the Oregon Historical Society, and Everett Street Lofts in Portland, Oregon; the Alameda Arts Center in Alameda, California; and International House in New York.

Parsons' writing is influenced by her interest in art and history, and is often filled with allusions to private as well as classical myths. She has a Master's degree in Liberal Studies from New York University and she worked at the Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum in Long Island City, New York, where she met and interviewed the Japanese American sculptor for an essay on museum architecture and visual art. Her Master's essay, The Soldier's Series, written under the guidance of Russian scholar and art historian Charlotte Douglas, was notable for contributing new information for dating artwork by Russian artist Michael Larionov.

Parsons' poetry has appeared in Into the Teeth of the Wind and Poetry Motel and her book of poetry and plays, Sins and Words From the World was published in 2006. She is listed in Who's Who in America and Who's Who of American Women and is a member of the Women's Caucus for Art. She was an organizer of the Willamette Writers annual conference, one of the largest in the U.S. Her work as Agent and Editor Coordinator brought well known literary agents and editors from New York, including Bill Contardi of Brandt & Hochman Literary Agents, Inc and Mollie Glick of the Jean Naggar Literary Agency, and over 600 writers to the Portland area for Willamette Writers yearly summer conference.