Press Release
For Press Inquiries Only:
Sarah Edwards Holley
Publicist
(202) 842-6359
s-holley@nga.gov
Release Date: March 5, 2004
Washington, DC--Margaret Parsons, head of the department of film programs at the National Gallery of Art, was honored with the 2004 Lifetime Achievement Award at the 5th annual DC Independent Film Festival on Thursday, March 4. The award is given annually to an individual from the Washington, DC, area, who has made a major contribution to the film community.
"The DCIFF 2004 Lifetime Achievement Award committee chose Peggy Parsons for her outstanding contributions to the District’s cinema culture," said Carol Bidault, DCIFF executive director and founder. "Under Peggy’s guidance, the Gallery has been at the forefront in recognizing the cinematic achievements of filmmakers from around the world, and the state-of-the-art, theater-style East Building Auditorium has evolved into a prestigious venue for films seeking exposure on the festival and distribution circuit."
Since 1978 Parsons has been in charge of programming and managing film events as well as film retrospectives, and she is responsible for overseeing a collection of art films and videos, producing brochures and program notes, and introducing public film programs. Parsons heads an advisory committee of internationally recognized film scholars that meets annually to review and recommend film exhibition topics for the National Gallery of Art.
In addition to her role at the National Gallery of Art, Parsons has held positions at the Smithsonian Institution, The National Trust for Historic Preservation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and The Children’s Museum, Boston.
Parsons has served as an advisor, panelist, programmer, or board member for the following organizations: Maryland State Arts Council; Program for Art on Film of The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Getty Trust; Victorian Society in America DC Chapter; Interact Theater Company; Georgetown Theater Company; Festival International du Film sur l’Art; Rosebud Awards; Washington DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Grants in Aid Program; Capitol Hill Arts Workshop; International Society of Specialty Film Exhibitors and Distributors; Colonial Singers and Players; Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital; Forum for the Psychoanalytic Study of Film; FilmFest DC; Washington Jewish Film Festival; and the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. She has served as juror for the American Film and Video Festival; Council on International Nontheatric Events; Program for Art on Film; Sinking Creek Film and Video Festival; and the American Association of Museums MUSE Awards for film/video.
She has been a speaker for programs aired on National Public Radio, Voice of America, BBC, Georgian Television/Radio, National Iranian Television, and Maryland Public Broadcasting. Articles or columns by Parsons have appeared in New York Folklore; Curator; Sign Systems for Libraries; Folklore Society of Greater Washington (newsletter); Folk Art Messenger; and Folk Art Magazine (forthcoming).
Film notes/reviews by Parsons have appeared in FilmFest DC catalogues and National Gallery of Art Quarterly Film Program. Parsons also has served as editor and project supervisor for The Art of Moving Shadows, a catalogue that accompanied the film series Photography and the Moving Image and the 1989 exhibition On the Art of Fixing a Shadow. She has compiled and delivered a DVD commentary track for The Mystery of Picasso. Among her organizational affiliations are the Association of Moving Image Archivists, ArtTable, Domitor, and Women in Film and Video.
Parsons holds a BA in fine arts from Boston University and an MA in museum studies from the State University of New York, Cooperstown Graduate Program. For information on the Gallery’s film program, visit www.nga.gov or click on /programs/film.htm.
General Information
The National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden are at all times
free to the public. They are located on the National Mall between 3rd
and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, and are open Monday through
Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00
p.m. The Gallery is closed on December 25 and January 1. For information
call (202) 737-4215 or the Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD)
at (202) 842-6176, or visit the Gallery's Web site at www.nga.gov.
Visitors will be asked to present all carried items for inspection upon
entering the East and West Buildings. Checkrooms are free of charge and
located at each entrance. Luggage and other oversized bags must be presented
at the 4th Street entrances to the East or West Building to permit x-ray
screening and must be deposited in the checkrooms at those entrances.
For the safety of visitors and the works of art, nothing may be carried
into the Gallery on a visitor's back. Any bag or other items that cannot
be carried reasonably and safely in some other manner must be left in
the checkrooms. Items larger than 17 x 26 inches cannot be accepted by
the Gallery or its checkrooms.
For additional press information please call or send inquiries to:
Press Office
National Gallery of Art
2000B South Club Drive
Landover, MD 20785
phone: (202) 842-6353 e-mail: pressinfo@nga.gov
Deborah Ziska
Chief of Press and Public Information
(202) 842-6353
ds-ziska@nga.gov
If you are a member of the press and would like to be added to our press list, click here.
| 
RSS | contact
us | national gallery of
art
Copyright ©2008
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC