Michele Parchment

Michele A. Parchment is Brandywine Workshop and Archives’ Executive Director. She joined BWA in August 2023, succeeding Founder Allan L. Edmunds.

Parchment’s extensive résumé includes more than 30 years working with nonprofit and for-profit organizations in arts and museum management and as a senior supervisor for public engagement and educational programming, visitor and volunteer services, collections, exhibitions, cultural festivals, and community initiatives. She has worked with influential museums across the United States, and has served in leadership roles in developing and opening new facilities at the Sarasota Art Museum, FL; Harvey B. Gantt Center for African American Arts + Culture, Charlotte, NC; Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, Detroit, MI; and Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture in Baltimore, MD. She began her career in the arts at the Studio Museum in Harlem, NY, and was registrar/consultant with Diversity Vibe Cultural Arts Incubator (DVCAI), Miami, before joining BWA.

Parchment earned her BA in liberal arts from Excelsior University, Albany, NY; MA in history from American Public University, Charles Town, WV; and an advanced certificate in nonprofit leadership from Duke University, Durham, NC.

In her words, “As our global communities continue to grow, it is important as a cultural professional that I share my experiences by continuing to bring diverse communities together. We all learn differently; we all see the world from various lenses. Through educational and cultural institutions, we are given the opportunity to explore, experience, enhance, enrich, and share our diverse histories, cultures, and values.”
Parchment has held project management, education, collections and exhibition and programming positions. She has served as a review panelist for the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS Learning Opportunity Grants), North Carolina Arts Council and the Arts and Science Council in Charlotte, NC. In July 2008, she received an Advanced Certificate in Non-Profit Leadership from Duke University, in May 2011 she was selected to join a seven-member national advisory board for the new Synthia SAINT JAMES Fine Arts Institute of St. Augustine’s College in Raleigh, North Carolina and in 2013 she was selected as one of four national jurors for the MacColl Johnson Fellowship of Providence, Rhode Island and an advisory committee member for The Gathering Place Project, for the North Carolina African American Heritage Commission.

Parchments’ successes at implementing strong programs in conjunction with exhibitions, collections and activities are among many strengths she brings. She is also a skilled fundraiser and grants writer; she excels at gathering people to build community and to work collaboratively toward common goals.