About

Bio

Loralee is an award-winning artist from Grand Rapids, Michigan. She received her BFA in Painting from Kendall College of Art and Design in 2010. She then devoted her life to expanding her mind and library of experiences by traveling abroad. She sold her possessions 3 times in order to launch 1-2 year trips abroad, often living and working as a local.

Visiting nearly 30 countries on 5 continents shaped her perspective of the world in a unique way that shows in her work. During her travels, she witnessed how mankind’s drive for progress has benefited some at the expense of others. The remains of exploitation and visible effects of air pollution and climate change were deeply moving.

These injustices, which disproportionately affect Indigenous and Black communities, are what Loralee seeks to bring awareness to through her work. Each of her pieces is both a celebration of this beautiful world and a warning of an impending dystopian future should humanity stay on the destructive path it’s on.

Some of her career highlights include:

• Artwork on 6 billboards around Detroit re: Environmental Racism with Save Art Space (2021)
• Solo show in Melbourne Australia (2019)
• Winning the Best in Show award at the App Gallery in Grand Rapids, MI (2015)
• Being invited to the annual UNICEF Benefit show in Chicago (2015 - 2018)
•Painting a culturally celebratory mural with 16 Black and Latinx students from the Cook Arts Center at the UICA (2015)

Since moving back to the states in 2020, Loralee is settling in metro Detroit and relishing becoming a part of its vibrant creative community.

Statement

Early visions of environmental catastrophes and socioeconomic injustices due to climate change struck me at a young age. I knew I wanted to document the state of the world as it is now and how I imagined it might change in the future. As soon as I was able, I did just that.

I began traveling the globe, visiting breathtaking regions, and meeting inspiring, thought-provoking people everywhere I went. I soon realized that my desire to capture the beauty around me wasn’t enough and that I wanted to reference the fascinating cultures that were influencing how I saw the world.

Thus, for over a decade, I have been adding to and curating my Futurelands series. What began as a reluctant harbinger of things to come has morphed into more of a celebration of humanity in its varying environments.

But under the surface, it’s more than that. What has driven me to pursue this work is my hope that it can bring awareness to how people in “developing” countries and certain demographics of America haven’t just been exploited socioeconomically, but that they also unjustly suffer the devastating effects of climate change and pollution they had no part in creating.

Curriculum Vitae

Loralee overlooking a beautiful valley in New Zealand

Resume

Born

1988 - Grand Rapids, MI

Education

2010 - Bachelors of Fine Arts in Painting, Kendall College of Art and Design, Grand Rapids, MI - Graduated with Honors

Exhibitions

Gallery Presentations

2019 - Black Cat Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2018 - Lions and Rabbits Gallery, Grand Rapids, MI
2017 - Tapu Te Ranga Gallery, Island Bay, Wellington, New Zealand
2017 - Alfred Memelink Gallery, Petone, Lower Hutt, New Zealand
2017 - Richard App Gallery, Grand Rapids, MI
2016 - Cascade Gallery, Cascade, MI
2016 - Richard App Gallery, Grand Rapids, MI

Select Solo Exhibitions

2019 - Solo Exhibition at Black Cat Gallery, Collingwood, Melbourne, Australia
2019 - LovArt Studios Soft Opening featuring the paintings of Loralee Grace, Rockford, MI
2016 - “New Futurelands” Creative Artspace, Division Ave, Grand Rapids, MI
2016 - “Futurelands”, Madcap, Grand Rapids, MI
2015 - “Futurelands”, The Sparrows Coffee Tea & Newsstand, Grand Rapids, MI
2015 - “Futurelands”, Rowster Cafe, Grand Rapids, MI
2015 - “Futurelands” Excerpt, Wegner Estate, Rathen Germany
2012 - Color Series “Art Downtown” Louis Benton, Grand Rapids, MI
2010 - Undergraduate Thesis Exhibition, Black Lotus, Clawson, MI

Select Juried Group Exhibitions

2022 - “All Women Anniversary Show”, The Congregation
2022 - “Gifted” Holiday small works exhibition, Irwin House Gallery
2021 - “We Evolve”, A suicide prevention fundraiser pop-up at Spot Lite
2021 - “At Whose Expense”, Environmental Racism Campaign; Billboards around Detroit
2020 - Covid Creative Convention, online at www.covidcreativeconvention.com
2019 - “Glow” 69 Collective, Neon Parlour, Thornbury, Melbourne, Australia
2018 - 90^th annual Muskegon Museum of Art Regional Exhibition
2017 - Group Show, Tapu Te Ranga Gallery, Island Bay, New Zealand
2017 - Group Show, Alfred Memelink Gallery, Petone, Lower Hutt, New Zealand
2017 - “Pigment” Matchbox Studios, Wellington, New Zealand
2017 - Art Party benefiting UNICEF, Chicago, IL
2016 - “On Repeat (Part 5)”, Neighbor Gallery, Grand Rapids, MI
2016 - “The Spectacle Returns”, Grand Rapids Autonomous Support System Harris Building, Grand Rapids, MI
2016 - Art Party benefiting UNICEF, Chicago, IL
2015 - Visiting Artist Show, Flat River Gallery, Lowell, MI
2015 - International Society of Experimental Artists 24^th Annual
2015 - International Art Exhibit, Den- nos Museum, Traverse City, MI
2015 - Art Party benefiting UNICEF, Bucketfeet, Chicago, IL
2015 - 46^th Annual Festival of the Arts, Grand Rapids, MI
2015 - “2Little”, ArtisTTable, Richard App Gallery, Grand Rapids, MI
2014 - 15+ Street Art installations, Metaxourgeio, Athens, Greece
2013 - Art Center, UFO Studios Bulgaria, Ivancha, Bulgaria
2013 - Artist Residency DIONYSIA, Guest Artist, Simbahöllin Café, Thingeyri, Iceland 2012
2013 - Annual Summer Festival, Simbahöllin Café, Thingeyri, Iceland
2013 - “Beauty and the Burden” Fundraiser for SowHope, Goei Center, Grand Rapids, MI
2011 - “100 Grand Show”, The Nice Gallery, Grand Rapids, MI
2011 - “Fortified Show” Dinderbeck, Grand Rapids, MI
2011 - “Artprize”, Vertigo, Grand Rapids, MI
2011 - “Fundraiser for Japan” San Chez Grand Rapids, MI
2010 - “First Annual Picnic”, Dinderbeck, Grand Rapids, MI
2011 - “Free Radical” 44 Ionia, Grand Rapids, MI
2011 - “Soup: A Metaphor for Community” Dinderbeck Studio, Grand Rapids, MI
2011 - Kendall College of Art and Design BFA Exhibition, Old Federal Building, Grand Rapids, MI
2011 - “Then and Now” Gallery 602, KCAD Grand Rapids, MI
2011 - “ArtPrize”, Boardwalk Condos, Grand Rapids, MI
2009 - “Portrait Show”, Gallery 602, KCAD Grand Rapids, MI
2009 - “Collaborative Show”, DAAC, Grand Rapids, MI
2009 - “ArtPrize” Boardwalk Condos, Grand Rapids, MI

Artist Residencies

2018 - Sowing Seeds Global Artist Residency, Jaisalmer, India
2018 - Dreamers Garden, artist in residence, Kathmandu, Nepal
2017 - 4 day artist in residence at AIR Ubud, Bali, Indonesia
2017 - 8 month self-led residency, Wellington, New Zealand
2016 - 3 month self-led nomadic, campervan residency, South Island, New Zealand
2016 - 1 month residency at the Blasmurphy forest cabin, Baldwin, MI
2016 - 10 day research residency, San Francisco, CA
2014 - 1 month self-led residency in a remote cabin in Ceska Trebova and Prague, Czech Republic
2014 - 3 week Street Art Installation Residency, Meta Studios, Metaxagourio, Athens, Greece
2014 - 1 month remote Winter Residency with local artists, UFO Studios Bulgaria, Ivancha, Bulgaria
2013 - 1 month artist in residence, Mojo Budva Guesthouse, Budva, Montenegro
2013 - 2 week residency at local artist Ivan Tokic’s “New Ruins” Sculpture Park & Gardens, Split, Croatia
2013 - 3 month remote self-led residency, Dyrafjordur, Westfjords, Iceland

Awards

2016 - UICA Exit Space Mural Competition Award Winner
2015 - Best in Show, “2Little” ArtisTTable, Richard App Gallery, Grand Rapids, MI
2006 - Kendall College of Art and Design Scholarship of Merit

Selected Bibliography

• Viator book “Art Exploring Spaces and Places” second edition - Featured artist (pp. 23-26)
• Lake County Star Newspaper article - “Artistic Inspiration in Lake County”, front page, Baldwin, MI
• Revue Arts Edition, Featured Artist, two-page spread, Grand Rapids, MI
• 24^th Annual Juried Exhibition Magazine, Dennos Museum, Traverse City, MI (p. 25)
• MLive On The Town Magazine, “From Where She Comes”, Grand Rapids, MI (p. 18)
• Online Blog review, http://camplinart.blogspot.com/2012/06/loralee-grace.html

Commissions & Collectors

• UICA + Cook Arts Center Mural 2015, Grand Rapids, MI
• Various international private and commercial painting, mural, and street art commissions
• Artworks in private collections abroad: Iceland, Denmark, Germany, New Zealand, India, Bali, Australia, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, & Ireland
• And in the United States: California, Illinois, Michigan, Louisiana, New Jersey, Kentucky, & Maryland

Loralee standing in front of her paintings at an exhibit

Loralee hanging a painting at an exhibition

Places I've Been

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