Discovering Kate

An accomplished artist in her own right, Kate Kelly was an invaluable force behind the enduring renown of her artist husband, John Kelly.

Text by
Elliott Wright
Images by
Chris Rohrer
Art courtesy of
John and Kate Kelly Estate Collection

In 1898, 16-year-old Kate Harland set sail to the Hawaiian Islands from San Francisco on a square-rigged sailing ship with her mother, the women’s suffrage pioneer Hester Harland. The purpose of their visit was ceremonious; the duo had been granted a private audience with Queen Lili‘uokalani. Little did Kate know that a quarter-century later she would be returning to Hawai‘i to make the islands her home and become an accomplished artist in her own right, sharing its beatific landscapes, people, and culture through her sculptures, prints, and photographs.

As a young adult, Kate settled in the Bay Area arts community, where she was introduced to the draftsman and fine artist John Melville Kelly through mutual friends. The two wed in 1908. The following year, she enrolled at Partington Art School and excelled in clay character studies, garnering national recognition. In 1923, the Kellys made the decision to relocate to Honolulu with their 4-year-old son, John Kelly Jr., on John Kelly Sr.’s yearlong contract gig to produce drawings for a new housing development in Hawai‘i. 

Upon their arrival in O‘ahu, the Kellys were immediately enchanted by their island surroundings. Eschewing the burgeoning tourist hub of Waikīkī, they instead built a small cottage in the quiet fishing community of Lae O Kūpikipiki‘ō, located on the eastern flank of Lē‘ahi (Diamond Head). There, with the help of Tūtū Harvest, an older Hawaiian woman who had taken the Kelly family in as hānai (adopted) members of her own family, they quickly assimilated into the local community. Their cottage soon became known as Hale Aloha and served as a gathering place for Hawaiian fishermen, hula dancers, musicians, and lei makers. As the Kellys later explored other areas of O‘ahu, Kaua‘i, and Hawai‘i island, Harvest regularly accompanied them, teaching the Kellys the intricacies of Hawaiian culture and traditions—further deepening their connection to their new home.

An accomplished sculptor, Kate often used friends and neighbors as models for her busts.

While John was working as the art director for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin newspaper, Kate began to make art to document the people and places she encountered—her open, sincere nature granting her unique access not typically afforded to haole (foreigners) at the time. Her photographs revealed intimate glimpses of Hawai‘i beyond the traditional tourist-driven lens and instead captured the daily activities of her Native Hawaiian neighbors: fishing and mending throw nets, stringing flowers for lei, and preparing plants for lā‘au lapa‘au (Hawaiian plant medicine). She began sculpting again too, crafting bronze busts of Hawaiian men and women she knew from the community, often gifting the originals to her models. Her miniature cast figurines of hula dancers, lei sellers, and surfers became especially popular in the 1930s and helped to support the Kelly family through lean financial times. (Years later, these miniatures would be pirated and mass-produced, evolving into the kitschy souvenir hula girl found on car dashboards around the world.) Many of Kate’s public commissions remain on display today, including a large bas-relief of King Kalākaua at the former police station on Bethel Street, a bronze Amelia Earhart memorial plaque at the Diamond Head scenic overlook, and a plaque designating a heiau (temple) dedicated to Poli‘ahu, the goddess of snow in Hawaiian mythology, located on the island of Kaua‘i. Bronze busts of Hawaiian youths—Leilani Paulson and Joseph Kaua Jr.—as well as the bronze heads of Kiomo and Joseph Kaua Sr. are displayed at the Honolulu Museum of Art.

Today, the redwood-shingled Hale Aloha still stands, housing a plethora of the artist couple’s etchings, sculptures, and photography. It is also home to Colleen, John and Kate’s granddaughter, and her partner Cha Smith, who serves as director of the John and Kate Kelly Estate Collection. Smith has devoted her retirement years to the preservation and archiving of the Kellys’ art. She considers such efforts to be part of her kuleana (responsibility) to promote the family’s legacy and Kate’s own underappreciated works.


Not only did John rely on Kate’s photographs for his award- winning work, but his recognition was largely due to Kate submitting his etchings into competitions on his behalf.

The Kelly residence, Hale Aloha, houses the late artist couple’s vast collection of work.

According to Smith, the Kellys arrived in Hawai‘i during a challenging time. Three decades earlier, Queen Lili‘uokalani had been forcefully overthrown. Thousands of Native Hawaiians were displaced as developers sought areas on O‘ahu to accommodate rapidly increasing tourism and commerce. “The Kellys’ house was known as Hale Aloha because their door was always open to people coming and going,” Smith says. “Many of the fishermen and their families became their models. The Hawaiian people really took them in.”

Inside the cozy Craftsman-style home, several lauhala hats hang next to a framed photo of a Native Hawaiian fisherman perched on a sea cliff. Photographed by Kate, it captures the moment before he cast his throw net into the sea. Near it is a similar image of a fisherman, depicted in an etching by John.

Smith credits Kate for the enduring renown of the Kelly name. Not only did John rely on her photographs for his award-winning work, but his recognition was largely due to Kate’s efforts bringing his art to a wider audience. “Kate saw the wisdom of promoting John’s work,” Smith explains. “She would enter him into printmaking contests, and he would walk away with the first prize almost every time.”

Kate’s photographs were often the basis for her husband’s lauded etchings, a collection of which were exhibited at the Halekulani fine art gallery in 2019.

Kate and John Kelly’s granddaughter, Colleen Smith, now resides in the couple’s historic home.

These award-winning etchings, created from Kate’s original photographs, gave the world a deeply intimate look into Hawai‘i during the 1930s and ’40s. “It wasn’t like she gave up her art for his art, which is a common situation for many women,” Smith says. “I think it was more of a natural progression.”

Less than six miles from Hale Aloha, a bronze plaque rests on the grounds of Washington Place, the former residence of Lili‘uokalani. A commission that Kate completed in 1929, the plaque serves as a lasting memorial to Hawai‘i’s queen, who first welcomed a teenaged Kate to the islands 40 years prior. Like so many of her artworks, it serves as a heartfelt tribute to the place she called her cherished home.