In recognition of outstanding achievements and contributions to the City of Chicago, Mayor Richard M. Daley and the Chicago Department of Aging will present on-site artist Grace Lai with the 2007 Luminary Senior Citizens Award, which is the highest award of the Chicago Senior Citizens Hall of Fame. The award will be presented at the 45th Annual Ceremony for the Chicago Senior Citizens Hall of Fame Awards, this Saturday, June 2, 2007 at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel. Lai is one of seven Luminary Senior honorees. She previously was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2003. The Inductee Class of 2007 has 33 honorees this year.
Grace Lai, 79, is a colorful Chicago on-site artist who specializes in the historical "on-site" documentation of Chicago's ever-evolving architecture. Her spectacular paintings capture the dramatic demolition and ongoing gargantuan construction of Chicago's famous skyline.
Lai's paintings of pen and ink with watercolor wash are a part of BP Amoco's permanent collection, the Northwestern Hospital art collection, and many private collections. Lai is also the official artist of the Construction Safety Council in Hillside, Illinois.
Grace Lai is a graduate of the American Academy of Art, a member of the Chicago Artists' Coalition, Palette & Chisel Academy of Fine Art, the Senior Artists Network, and holds WBE and MBE certification at the City of Chicago and State of Illinois. (Source: ENERI Communications, May 31, 2007.