Lee Kelly (May 24, 1932 – March 28, 2022) was an American sculptor who has more than 30 sculptures on display between

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...

, and

Vancouver, Washington Vancouver ( ) is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, located in Clark County, Washington, Clark County. Founded in 1825 and incorporated in 1857, Vancouver had a population of 190, ...

. Kelly has been called "Oregon's sculptor".

Personal life

Born in rural McCall in central Idaho, Kelly was raised near

Riggins, Idaho Riggins is a city in the western United States in Idaho County, Idaho. Nestled deep in a canyon at the confluence of the Salmon and Little Salmon rivers in west central Idaho, it is approximately north of Boise, and south-southeast of Lewis ...

. His family moved to Portland in 1945 and he attended Roosevelt High School. From 1949 to 1951, he attended Vanport Extension Center, which is now

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon, United States. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the next ...

. From 1951 to 1955, he was in the

United States Air Force Reserve The Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) is a major command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force, with its headquarters at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. It is the federal Air Reserve Component (ARC) of the U.S. Air Force, consisting of commis ...

s at

Portland Air Force Base Portland Air National Guard Base is a United States Air Force base, located at Portland International Airport, in Portland, Oregon. Overview The base is the home of the 142nd Wing, Oregon Air National Guard. The 142nd FW participates around ...

, including service on active duty.Sutinen, Paul
"Sculptor Lee Kelly: Pointing toward Asia"
''Oregon Artswatch website'', June 1, 2017. Retrieved December 11, 2021. He married Jeanette Bernhardt. During the late 1950s he attended

Pacific Northwest College of Art The Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) is an art school of Willamette University and is located in Portland, Oregon. Established in 1909, the art school grants Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees and graduate degrees including the Master of Fine ...

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

. From 1967 to 1971, he taught at Mt. Angel College, Mt. Angel, Oregon. Bernhardt and Kelly had one daughter Kassandra, and Bernhardt died in 1960 of cancer before Kassandra turned one. In 1961, Kelly married

Bonnie Bronson Bonnie Bronson (1940–1990) was an American painter and sculptor and one of Portland, Oregon's most prominent artists during the 1970s–1980s. Randal Davis said that her work showed "an abiding love for the sheer beauty of materials and a fasci ...

, and in 1963 they bought a dairy farm near

Oregon City Oregon City is the county seat of Clackamas County, Oregon, United States, located on the Willamette River near the southern limits of the Portland metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 37,572. Established in 1829 ...

, where as of 2010 Kelly still lived. Kelly and Bronson had a son, Jason, who died in 1978 of

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

, while Bronson died climbing Mount Adams with Kelly in 1990. Kelly died at his home in Clackamas County on March 28, 2022.

References

External links

Exploring The World Of Oregon Sculptor Lee Kelly
Oregon Public Broadcasting (2017)
Oral history interview with Lee Kelly, 1987 August 18
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Lee 1932 births 2022 deaths 20th-century American sculptors 21st-century American sculptors American male sculptors American contemporary artists Artists from Idaho Military personnel from Idaho Military personnel from Oregon Pacific Northwest College of Art alumni People from Oregon City, Oregon People from McCall, Idaho Portland State University alumni Roosevelt High School (Oregon) alumni Sculptors from Oregon United States Air Force airmen United States Air Force reservists 20th-century American male artists

Personal life

See also

References

External links