Patricia Burnett was born in Brooklyn, New York, to parents who separated when she was young.

Her mother later married a physician who worked at Henry Ford Hospital, and their family moved to Detroit, a place that would have a profound impact on the rest of Patricia’s life.

In 1942, she was named Miss Michigan and went on to become a runner-up in the Miss America pageant that same year, as well as “Miss Congeniality” in a later pageant.

She earned a scholarship to study at the Toledo Museum of Art for four years when she was just twelve years old and started selling her portraits by the time she was fourteen.

She then continued her education at Wayne State University in Detroit and studied abroad at the Instituto Allende in Mexico during a time when portraiture was still dominated by men.

Patricia Hill Burnett was a celebrated portrait artist whose client’s included legends such as Margaret Thatcher, Betty Ford, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

As a founder of Michigan’s chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW), she fought fiercely for women’s rights while building a career that placed her in the rare company of other female portraitists who had made careers out of painting the powerful.

She was sought after for her ability to make her subjects seem humane without ever compromising their stature, proving her artistry and perseverance in a patriarchal field that was heavily stacked against her gender.

Her temper was fiery, articulate, and relentless, and she was always prepared to go toe to toe with business leaders, politicians, and institutions that opposed women’s equality.

In this way, her activism matched her art.

She viewed painting powerful women as a form of advocacy, one that showed that women belonged in history’s halls of influence just as much as any man did.

Although Patricia’s influence stretched far beyond Detroit, Burnett never forgot the city that shaped her.

Her Motor City service included board membership, artist mentoring, and even the occasional civic debate.

In short, she felt privileged to be a Detroiter and a woman making waves in spaces where women were not supposed to be for a long time.

In addition to her exhibitions throughout the country and her appearances in art journals, Burnett considered her biggest career success to be in terms of the social change she helped effect.

She continued to paint well into her later years, producing portraits with the same precise vitality that launched her career and leaving behind a huge body of art and activism when she died in 2014.

To put it simply, Patricia Hill Burnett lived two lives in perfect sync: one in the studio, where she showcased the greats of her time, and one in the streets and boardrooms where she could be found championing for women’s rights.

For Detroit, she remains a symbol of artistry mixed with activism – a brush master with a heart of gold.

Victoria Jackson (Editor In Chief)

Victoria Jackson is a lifelong student and sharp-eyed documentarian of all things Detroit, from its rich musical roots and cultural icons to its shifting neighborhoods, storied architecture, and underground legends. With her finger firmly on the pulse of both the city’s vibrant past and its rapidly unfolding future, she brings a deeply personal, historically grounded lens to every piece she writes.

Published on: August 23, 2025