Leonard Parker: An Architect's Architect
Friday, March 23, 6-8pm
HGA Gallery, Rapson Hall, Minneapolis Campus
Light refreshments served
sponsored by the College of Design School of Architecture, AIA Minnesota, and GMD

Leonard Parker's contribution to the College of Design's School of Architecture and Twin Cities' architecture is virtually unparalleled. In a career that included several decades of teaching in the School of Architecture, Parker showed generations of students not only how to become skilled designers, but also how to work in ways that would help ensure their own success in the profession.

Parker was also counted among the most prominent architects in the Twin Cities, establishing successful architecture firm The Leonard Parker Associates (TLPA) in 1958. TLPA designed many functional and handsome Minnesota landmarks, some of which include the University of Minnesota Law School (1978), the Minneapolis Convention Center (1989 & 2002), and the Minnesota Judicial Center (1998).

Linda Mack noted in a StarTribune article after Parker's passing, "Parker's death signals the end of an era. He was one of the young Modernists who shaped postwar Minnesota. Along with his peers James Stageberg, Bruce Abrahamson and John Rauma and their mentor Ralph Rapson (all deceased), he studied with the European giants who brought the International Style to America. Form follows function was their mantra. Architecture was their love."

Hanging on a wall in his office are many personal quotes, one of which reads, "Find out what you're here to do. Do the best you possibly can. And do it all the time." He was an inspiration to the lives that he touched, and continues to inspire architecture through his work.

Please join us in celebrating Leonard Parker's life, work, and legacy.

By Jenny Parker: GMD Graduate Assistant, and James Dozier: GMD Program Director, HGA Gallery