Laura Parker (born Denver, Colorado, 1947) is an American conceptual, installation,[1] and social practice artist.[2] She is best known for her participatory installations and large scale drawings that address themes of food, agriculture, and soil, which have played a role in the back-to-the-land movement, food-to-table movement, and Locavore movement in California.[3] Her participatory art installations and philosophy on soil, terroir, and locality have influenced Michelan star restaurants, wineries, and celebrity cookbooks, including Insalata’s Restaurant in San Anselmo and Robert Mondavi Winery and chef Robert Reynolds.
Parker's drawings are featured on the walls of the San Anselmo restaurant Insalata's, and in the pages of Heidi Krahling's book Insalata's Mediterranean Table.[4]
She has exhibited at and participated in artist residencies at the de Young Museum in San Francisco, the University of California’s Earthlab in Santa Cruz, the Sonoma County Museum in Santa Rosa, and the Garage Biennial, San Francisco. Her projects have been featured in The New York Times Magazine, Gastronomica, and the University of Chicago Press, and in PBS’ “American Heartland” and American Public Radio’s “The Dinner Party Download.” She lives and works in San Francisco and Sonoma County, California.