“A passionate artist” may be the best way to describe Mini Lai, to whom the Mini Lai Scholarship Fund and The Mini Show are dedicated. She had a life-long love of art, from an artistic young child to a hardworking illustration student to an emerging professional illustrator.
Art was in Mini’s blood. Her father was a professional photographer and industrial x-ray lab technician. And her mother was a seamstress and homemaker. So it was natural for her to pursue a career in art.
Mini attended the respected University of California, Irvine, majoring in biology and taking many art classes. While she was at the university, she was diagnosed with congenital heart disease. Eventually, her debilitating condition required her to receive a heart transplant.
With this second chance at life, Mini pursued her dream of becoming an illustrator. She developed her skills at Pasadena City College and then studied at the prestigious Art Center College of Design (ACCD), majoring in illustration. Because of her talent and hard work, she earned generous scholarships.
Mini graduated from ACCD in 2000 and began to build her career. She worked on a broad range of projects, from developing logos and identity systems to creating wedding invitations and birth announcements to painting personal works.
Mini’s challenging life experience strongly influenced her personal work, giving it power and humanity. She explored a wide range of subjects, from life and death to religion and spirituality to culture and tradition. A recurrent theme was the beauty of the human heart.
Eight years after she received her heart transplant, Mini suddenly passed away from a stroke. However, her spirit still lives strong in the fond memories of her family and friends. Her passion for art continues through the Mini Lai Scholarship Fund and The Mini Show.