Grady wins Arlington Heights photography competition

Kathleen L. Grady is the winner of the first photography competition sponsored by the Arlington Heights Arts Commission. A total of 15 photographers entered.

Grady, a resident of the village, submitted a picture of the statue of the village founder, William Dunton, which stands at Friendship Corner at Northwest Highway and Arlington Heights Road.

The shot is called "William Dunton: Wintertime" and will be enlarged, framed and displayed on the first floor of the village hall for at least a year.

The feeling of warmth around the statue even on a snowy December day attracted Grady's attention.

"I took several shots from different views and different exposures," she said. "We went out walking with the dogs as the sun was setting. It was a different mood."

Photography is an important hobby to Grady, administrative director for the Center for Heart Failure at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. She and her husband, Patrick, belong to the Arlington Heights Camera Club, but also go to camera workshops in places like national parks.

The commission plans to announce another photography competition in the spring, said Derek Mach of the Planning & Community Development Department, staff liaison to the commission.