Chie Curley has served as a volunteer curator of visual art exhibitions at the Noyes Cultural Arts Center in Evanston for more than 25 years. She served the maximum two terms on Evanson's Public Art Committee, and she has been honored for her outstanding contributions to the community as a past recipient of the City of Evanston's Mayor's Award for the Arts. Since 1983, Ms. Curley has worked in collaboration with sculptor Barbara Goldsmith, organizing close to 200 exhibitions that have highlighted the work of both emerging and established artists. The Noyes Cultural Arts Center presents a dozen exhibitions a year in two galleries, and Ms. Curley has spent hours planning, installing, and publicizing each exhibit. In 2008, Ms. Curley and her family commissioned Conversations: Here and Now, a bronze sculpture by Evanston artist Indira Freitas Johnson, which they donated to the City of Evanston in memory of Ms. Curley's mother. Displayed in Raymond Park, the sculpture is a circular arrangement of seven fanciful chairs embellished with comments from local citizens describing their views on living in Evanston, gathered at community meetings with local residents. This public art display encourages a civic dialogue and provides a focal point at which residents from disparate backgrounds may gather.

"Through her professionalism, selfless dedication, and great enthusiasm," noted Mayor Elizabeth B. Tisdahl, "Ms. Curley has increased public awareness of the importance of the arts by demonstrating a deep commitment to the importance of the artist's contribution to our society."