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2/15/2025 Naperville Art League Airs 30-min Documentary about Ground-breaking, Chicago-area Fine Artist--NORM PARISH--to Celebrate BLACK HISTORY MONTH

Writer's picture: Lynne KorneckiLynne Kornecki

Updated: 5 hours ago


Norm Parish's oldest son, Norm Parish III, holds a print of his late father's work -- a ground-breaking, African American fine artist and art dealer who helped open doors for other minority creatives.


Don't miss this chance to celebrate the contributions of an outstanding African American artist noted for opening doors for others just like him. His son, Norm Parish III, worked with SME Media, LLC and Director/Producer Susan Ericsson to honor his late father's legacy with a 30-minute documentary that explores his father's accomplishments in the art world.


Here are the details of the upcoming airing...


Date: Saturday, 2/15/2015

Time: 1:30 PM

Place: Naperville Art League & Gallery

508 N. Center Street; Naperville

Documentary Film: Walls of Respect: Norman Parish and the Parish Art Gallery 

Registration: $10 includes meeting Norm Parish III as Moderator

REFRESHMENTS SERVED

WHO WAS NORM PARISH?



Norman Parish, Sr. (1937-2013) -- pictured above -- was born in New Orleans, raised in Chicago and later graduated from the Art Institute of Chicago. He was both an artist and art dealer paving the way for many other African American fine artists by promoting and showcasing their work. He was the founder and director of the Parish Gallery in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, DC.


From the web...

In the late 1960s, Norm Parish Sr. and more than a dozen politically active African American artists in Chicago created a then controversial mural, known as The Wall of Respect, on Chicago’s South Side which 40 years later is now "credited with sparking the creation of other ethnic murals around the world. The mural was also celebrated by the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Gwendolyn Brooks in one of her poems: “The Wall".


The gallery that Norm Parish Sr. opened in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington D.C. was described by The Washington Post as an art gallery "that spotlighted African American artists at a time when few other galleries concentrated on showing their work.


PARISH'S SON CARRIES FORTH HIS FATHER'S ARTISTIC LEGACY


Norm Parish III and his wife, Valerie, are now back from a life-changing trip to Ghana where his late father was celebrated in the airing of the 30-minute documentary about his work as a fine artist co-produced by Norm and Susan Ericsson.


In Ghana, Norm and Valerie enjoyed being feted by many art educators that included being interviewed on a local radio station to help promote the film's upcoming airing.


"Everyone we met in Ghana was so friendly, accessible, welcoming, and interested in discussing my father's work. I'm still processing the experience -- it was truly life changing," Norm shares.


For the last few years, the documentary has been shown at a variety of venues, ranging from City Club Tavern in Washington, D.C., to the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland at the Greater Cleveland Urban Film Festival.


On Jan. 20, 2025, University of Cape Coast in Ghana showed the documentary at a program presented by Prof. Kwadwo Opoku-Agyemang (LEFT) who is married to Jane Opoku-Agyemang (NOT PICTURED), Ghana's first female vice president. Valerie Parish (Center), Norm Parish III (Right).


Print of Norm Parish's work, "Gyrations of American Gothic".



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