William Kelly is an artist, humanist, husband and father.

Born in Buffalo, New York, Kelly studied at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, the University of the Arts (Philadelphia, USA) and at the National Gallery School, Melbourne, Australia. Having once called a park bench home, he is a former steel worker, taxi driver, welder, Fulbright Scholar and Dean at the Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne. Today Kelly is more notably recognised internationally as a painter and printmaker though his past history resonates throughout his artistic enterprise which is characterised by a humanist approach and “socially committed” creative practice.

His international reputation as an artist of conscience has been frequently acknowledged publicly with the presentation to him of the “Coat of Arms” of the city of Guernica, Spain; he is the only visual artist to receive an Australian Violence Prevention Award (presented by the Prime Minister and Heads of Australian Government); the only visual artist to receive the prestigious “Courage of Conscience Award” from the Peace Abbey, Boston, USA (others include the Dalai Lama, Martin Luther King Jr., John Lennon, Muhammad Ali). He has represented Australia in the International United Nations Human Rights Print Portfolio (in collaboration with Aboriginal artist, Benjamin McKeown) and, recently, he has been selected to represent Australia in the international print folio "Dialogue Among Nations" organised by Art for Humanity, Durban, South Africa.