Kate Kelly or Katherine Kelly (1882–1964) was an American

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

and printmaker. She was born in California, the daughter of

suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

Hester Lambert Harland Hester is both a female given name and a surname. As a given name Hester is a variant of Esther. As a surname it is of Italian origin and uncertain meaning. In Ireland, particularly County Mayo, the surname Hester is found as an Anglicized form of ...

. Kate first visited Hawaii with her mother in 1898, at age 16. She studied at the Partington Art School in San Francisco, where she met the painter and printmaker

John Melville Kelly John Melville Kelly (1879–1962) was an American painter and printmaker. Biography He was born in Oakland, California in 1879. He studied art at the San Francisco Art Institute, Mark Hopkins Institute of Art (now the San Francisco Art Inst ...

, whom she married in 1908. After living in San Francisco, the couple went to Hawaii in 1923. Their plan was to stay a year, while John worked for an advertising agency creating material to promote tourism. They fell in love with the islands and the people and stayed permanently. The Kellys immediately identified with the native Hawaiians and became their champions in images and in print. Kate took a class in printmaking at the

University of Hawaii A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

with Huc-Mazelet Luquiens (1881–1961), and then taught her husband John the techniques of printmaking. Because of failing vision, Kate gave-up her own career in the mid-1930s and devoted herself to promoting that of her husband. Kelly's sculptures in public places include: * ''Hawaiian Head, Joseph “Red” Kaua '', bronze bust, ca. 1930s, John Dominis and Patches Damon Holt Gallery, Honolulu Museum of Art * ''Kaipo, Sketch of a Hawaiian Chinese Boy '', bronze bust, 1933, John Dominis and Patches Damon Holt Gallery, Honolulu Museum of Art * Bas-relief of King Kalākaua, old Bethel Street Police Station, Honolulu * Amelia Earhart plaque, Diamond Head, Hawaii, Diamond Head Lookout, HonoluluSeverson, 2002, p. 211.

References

* Drucker, Natasha Roessler, ''John Melville Kelly: Hawaiian Idyll'', Honolulu Academy of Arts, 2009, 6–7, . * Severson, Don R. ''Finding Paradise: Island Art in Private Collections'', University of Hawaii Press, 2002, pp. 147–8, 210–11.

Footnotes

External links

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Art Inventories Catalog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Kate 1882 births 1964 deaths Sculptors from Hawaii 20th-century American sculptors 20th-century American women sculptors