Ed Parker Biography
1979

Ed Parker was born and raised in Massachusetts. For his abiding love of history, Parker credits his grandfather, who maintained the family was directly related to the leader of the famous Revolutionary War soldiers known as the Minutemen. Parker never forgot this,
nor his hometown's quaint celebrations and unassuming lifestyles even as he pursued his artistic muse.

He attended the Massachusetts College of Art, where he received a degree in graphic arts, and then earned an M.F.A. in illustration, with a minor in painting, at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Parker secured a teaching fellowship at Rochester and went on to instruct graphic design at the Massachusetts College of Art and Illustration at the Art Institute of Boston. During his teaching days,
he also served as art director for Boston magazine and for several Boston-based advertising agencies. All the while, the artist maintained the Ed Parker Studio for freelance work. He developed programs and seminars for elementary and secondary schools and colleges, and along the way, found time to illustrate eight children's books, including Three Billy Goats Gruff and Jackrabbit Goalie.

Throughout the years, Parker remembered the pleasures of his youth and kept developing the "antique" style for which he has become known. His fine art has been exhibited in the traveling Museum of American Illustration, and his honors include the 1986, 1990, and 1991 Awards of Distinctive Merit from the Society of Illustrators. Some of his most recent accomplishments include painting Christmas cards for the National Football League and illustrating a box for Celestial Seasonings herbal teas.

In addition, his artwork appears on everything from holiday ornaments to tapestry pillows and collectible plates. Today Parker brings his grandfather's tales full circle by visiting schools dressed as a Minuteman and answering the children's questions about the Revolutionary War.

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