Cynthia Parsons
Southern artist, Cynthia Massey Parsons, has been termed a multi-faceted creative talent. In addition to dramatic formal oil & pastel portraiture, her work includes abstracts with mirrored gloss, and the exploration of flamboyant floral and landscape themes. The summer of 1996 brought world-wide distribution of her art when her high energy design became an official poster for the Olympic Soccer Games. Her action soccer paintings inspired by the Summer Games became a published collection in Impressions - Men's Summer Soccer '96. Collegiate football's Iron Bowl and University of Alabama Coach Gene Stallings were the subjects of Parsons' widely collected poster: Pride Runs Deep.
The Methodist/Presbyterian has been recognized by the Vatican for her oil portrait of Pope John Paul II. She also painted His Eminence John Cardinal O'Connor and the first Archbishop of New York: "Dagger John" Hughes, for the Archdiocese of New York. In 2001 Mrs. Parsons was in attendance at the White House Christmas Reception honoring artists whose respective state governor had appointed them to design and create a Christmas ornament for the Official United States White House Christmas Tree. Her oil, “Royal Iris,” is in the private collection of Former First Lady Laura Bush. Parsons has been included in Who’s Who in American Art since 2011.
In 2015 in the company of the noted accomplishments of Dr. Wernher Von Braun, Parsons was designated one of the “101 Rocket City Inventors” by the U. S. Space & Rocket Center, a Smithsonian Affiliate. With fellow living inventors she was presented at the Inventors Ball. Throughout the year Parsons’ Mounting Device for the Smock Gathering Machine was in exhibit at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, Huntsville, Alabama.
In February 2003 Mrs. Parsons was confirmed Special Consultant of the United Nations' NGO: The International Association of Educators for World Peace. In 2002 she was bestowed membership in the Legion of Honor; Chapel of the Four Chaplains; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in recognition of selfless contributions to charitable causes.
Organizations that have benefited from Mrs. Parsons' efforts include: The American Cancer Association; The American Heart Association; The Callahan Eye Foundation; Designers Against Breast Cancer; Easter Seals; The Firefighters' Association; several Hospital Foundations; The Huntsville Botanical Gardens; United Cerebral Palsy.
Parsons holds a BA in Art from Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida. Her work has been exhibited in solo shows, juried museum exhibitions, and is represented in selected galleries of note. Her courtroom sketches have appeared on both CBS and ABC affiliated stations. She is published in Christmas with Southern Living 1982. Parsons is listed in Who's Who in American Art 2011, 2010, & 1977. She received the 2000 Arts Alive Award for excellence & support of Alabama Arts by the Children's Hands-On Museum, Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Cynthia Parsons holds membership in the National League of American Pen Woman, Magna Charta Dames & Barons, and ranks as Black Belt in the martial art of Tang Soo Do Moo Duk Kwan.
Ms. Parsons teaches & has taught art classes at the Birmingham Museum of Art; The Birmingham Botanical Garden; Burritt Museum on the Mountain in Huntsville, AL; Hobby Lobby in Jones Valley in Huntsville, AL; Alabama Art Supply in Birmingham, AL / & the Art Academy in Ardmore, Tennessee. She is available to conduct painting workshops, special presentations & lectures.
Discover more about Cynthia Massey Parsons
Related Studio Notes Art Blog
This artist’s work connects to a Studio Notes art blog that explores related ideas, materials, and ways of working—offering guidance for artists who want to dig deeper into their process and creative thinking.
→ Read the related Studio Notes: Seeing Spring: Light, Color, and the Freedom of Impression
- Elizabeth Ragona
Comments 0