Patricia Zinsmeister Parker holds B.F.A., M.A. and M.F.A. degrees from Kent State University. She was an adjunct professor at the University of Akron in the School of Art from 1978-1998. She pursued independent study from 2004-2008 at the Instituto de Allende, Mexico.
Painter / printmaker Patricia Zinsmeister Parker’s painting, The Yellow Table, circa 1976, has recently (2017) been acquired by The Cleveland Museum of Art for their permanent collection. She has a long history of inclusion in the Cleveland Museum of Art’s May Show exhibitions from 1976 to 1990, winning Best in Show in 1981. She was the first female painter to exhibit work in the Cleveland Museum’s inaugural exhibition “The Invitational: Artists of Northeast Ohio,” an exhibition honoring regional artists. “Cleveland Collects Contemporary Art,” a major exhibition at the museum, showcased a large painting “Art” from the collection of the Jones Day law firm. She has had solo shows at major museums and universities throughout Ohio, including a major retrospective at the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown. In 2005, the University of Akron hosted a solo exhibition of her paintings, prints and drawings. Cleveland State University held a solo show of paintings in 2007, and in 2010 Parker was invited to participate in the “18th Annual Women’s Invitational” at Ursuline College in Pepper Pike, Ohio. The Canton Museum held an exhibition of her paintings (“Director’s Choice”) in 2011. Other venues include Washington, D.C., Chicago and Xiamen University in southern China and Xian University in central China. Recently the hardcover book, 100 Midwest Artists, which was published by Schiffer in 2012, author E. Ashley Rooney, showcased Parker’s monoprints which were also exhibited in an Invitational, (The Monotype Monoprint Guild of New England), MA in 2013. In 2014 the Artist Archives of the Western Reserve published a book, Archives Speak in which Parker’s work is represented. Parker’s exhibition in 2015, was held at the Bonfoey Co. Gallery, Cleveland, Ohio. In 2018, Parker exhibited work in NYC at The Painting Center and in the Butler Museum of American Art’s Annual Midyear exhibit.
Parker’s paintings are represented in the collections of The Cleveland Museum of Art, Akron Art Museum, the Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio, the Canton Art Museum,
Kent State University, Case Western Reserve University, Weatherhead School of Management, Archives of the Smithsonian Institution of American Art, Artists Archives of the Western Reserve. Ritz Carlton Corporation, Cleveland Food Bank, Law Firms: Hahn Loesser, Squires Sanders Dempsey, Jones Day, Benesch Friedlander and Baker & Mc Kenzie, Chicago. Parker was recognized by the Senate of the State of Ohio for induction into the Hall of Fame for contributions and achievements in Art. Her work is also included in the art collections of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, University Hospitals and Summa Health, Cleveland, Ohio. She is a founding member and an archived artist of the Artists Archives of the Western Reserve, Cleveland Ohio.