Meelia Kelly was born in 1940, spending her early years living a nomadic lifestyle on the land. Her family, including her sister artist Sheojuk Etidlooie, eventually settled in Kinngait. 

After her sister’s encouragement, Kelly began working out of the Kinngait studio in the mid 1990s, coming to art later in her life. While working at the studio, she experimented with both etching and lithography. Kelly’s prints are identifiable by her bold and wild colours and forms engaging with the wildness of the nature around her. These exaggerated forms in combination with her confidence and talent developed into what would be known as Kelly’s distinct personal style. 

Kelly had a short but successful career. She was featured in the Cape Dorset Annual Print Collection between 2001 and her final collection in the year of her death in 2006. Her work has also been featured on the cover of Inuit Art Quarterly, a respected publication on Inuit art.

Exhibitions

• Art by Women: An investigation of Inuit Sculpture and Graphics, Feheley Fine Arts
• Small Sculptures by Great Artists - A World Apart. Drawings by Meelia Kelly, Feheley Fine Arts
• Cape Dorset Graphics (annual collection) 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
• Uuturautiit: Cape Dorset Celebrates 50 years of Printmaking, National Gallery of Canada
• Dorset Large: Large Scale drawings from the Kinngait Studios, Feheley Fine Arts
• Fall Migration: A Selection of Birds in Sculpture, Prints, and Drawings, Feheley Fine Arts
• Cape Dorset and Points South, Theo Gantz Studio
• Over the Top, Feheley Fine Arts
• Cape Dorset Prints, Illulissat Kuntsmuseum
• Meelia Kelly: Drawings, The Albers Gallery
• Meelia Kelly Drawings, Feheley Fine Arts

Collections

• Canadian Museum of Civilization