Kelly Cannell

Coast Salish

Kelly Cannell is a Coast Salish artist from the Musqueam Nation in British Columbia.

Born in 1982, Kelly has been exposed to Coast Salish Art and culture from birth; coming from a renewed artistic family. At the age of 12, Kelly began her art career with her filk collaborative silk screen print. Kelly’s travels throughout the years have been the foundation for her inspirations. With the help of local people and their unique cultures, it has helped connect Kelly connect with the natural world.

While familiar with many different mediums, Kelly has pursued her passion for glass at the Pilchuck Glass School and The Glass Furnace in Istanbul, Turkey. She continued to study part-time at Emily Carr University, most recently silk screen printing and acrylic painting. Kelly continues to challenge herself by expanding on traditional themes as well as pushing the boundaries of contemporary Coast Salish art. In 2019, Kelly received a scholarship to study at the Berango Studio in Morano, Italy. There, she worked with and learned from Venetian glass blowers.

Kelly’s public works can be seen locally throughout the City of Vancouver: Cast Iron Storm Sewer Covers (with mother Susan Point), Canadian Broadcast Corporation (CBC) downtown office, Vancouver Community College — Broadway campus, Musqueam Community Centre, West Broadway — Stone Medallion art, Westbank Towers at Granville and 70th, a Canada 150 Light Box Mural at Queen Elizabeth Theatre, a glass canopy at the new residence building at University of British Columbia (UBC), Collaborative piece with Vancouver SeaBus done with Siobhan Joseph from the Squamish Nation and Angela George from the Tsleil-Waututh, and three works at new Leləm̓ development in UBC, Vancouver (one collaboration with Thomas Cannell).