The late Johnice Ingram Parker had a dream to assist young emerging artists by offering an artist award. Just as her father discovered her artistic talent at a very young age and enrolled her in an art school, she wanted to give a gift to young artists to assist them in purchasing art materials and supplies or in paying tuition for art classes. Her desire to contribute to a young artist who shows creative promise is being realized. The first artist award was presented to a gifted young person on June 19, 2022! Applications are being accepted for the next artist award.

Johnice lived in Dallas, Texas for over 25 years. She was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and graduated with a bachelor's degree in fine arts from the Memphis Academy of Arts. She also acquired an Arts Certificate from the University of Madrid after studying for a year in Madrid, Spain. Following graduation, Johnice traveled extensively throughout Europe, the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

While her appeal and perspective became truly contemporary, Johnice drew her inspiration from familiar and personal experiences. This inspiration is profoundly representative of her paintings based on family traditions, church, community, social justice issues, and nature. This platform imagery of hers in chalk pastels afforded her popularity in the art world. Her paintings tell stories of life and familial connections. As time went on, she began to use vibrant colors in mixtures of oils, acrylic, and pastels. Her creative process thus yielded textural richness among art pieces categorized as abstracts, landscapes, seascapes, and portraits of life. Each one of her paintings began to offer the motivating power of life and life's lessons.

As a result of her unique and prolific gift, Johnice's art has been collected widely throughout the world. The legacy of her work remains a significant gift to the art world and to those who revere art.