Keely O'Brien CV
TRAINING & LEARNING
Printmaking Mentorship, Malaspina Printmakers, (Mentor: Maya Schueller Elmes) 2024 - 2025
Intaglio Printmaking , Malaspina Printmakers, 2023
Relief Printmaking, Malaspina Printmakers, 2023
Restorying Colonialism & Decolonizing Practices, Nahanee Creative, 2021
Community Engaged Art Practices Mentorship, (Mentor: Marina Szijarto) 2020 - 2021
Bachelor of Fine Arts, Theatre Performance, Simon Fraser University, 2011 - 2016
(Steven Hill, Penelope Stella, DD Kugler, Ker Wells, James Long, Lisa Beley, Raina von Waldenburg)
Arts One Program, University of British Columbia, 2011
Visual Arts and Craft Processes, Family Taught, Life-long
RESIDENCIES
Outlet Studio Residency (Port Coquitlam B.C.), 2024
Artists Engaging Communities Residency (Richmond B.C), 2024
Theatre Replacement COLLIDER Residency (Vancouver B.C.), 2023 - 2025
Vancouver Parks Board Arts & Health Residency (Vancouver B.C.), 2020 - 2025
Eatern Front Theatre Rotunda Residency (Dartmouth Nova Scotia) 2024
Clayton Community Centre Artist Residency (Surrey B.C.), 2022 - 2023
Blue Cabin Floating Artist Residency (Steveston B.C), 2022
Artists in Communities Residency, Mount Pleasant Community Center (Vancouver B.C), 2019
Branscombe House Artist Residency (Steveston B.C.), 2018
SELECTED INTERDISCIPLINARY PROJECTS
Secret Ingredients, Role: Creator/Performer, 2023 - 2025 A participatory theatre project that uses cake to explore the intricacies of human relationships. Created with support from Theatre Replacement’s COLLIDER residency, presentations at HOLD ON LET GO (Vancouver 2024 & upcoming 2025) Eastern Front Theatre STAGES Festival (upcoming Halifax, 2025).
The Dead Letter Office (Popcorn Galaxies), Role: Co-Creator/Performer, 2020 - 2024
A performance and remote letter mail exchange delivering mysterious letters between audience members across time and space. Presentations at Eastern Front Theatre (Halifax, 2024) and The Array (Vancouver, 2020), commissioned by Upintheair Theatre.
Perfect Strangers (Popcorn Galaxies), Role: Co-Creator/Performer, 2018 - 2023
A theatrical experience that invites consideration of how we perceive strangers in the world around us. Presented at Nakai Theatre (Yukon, 2023) Found Festival (Edmonton, 2022), rEvolver Festival (2019), and Richmond Culture Days (2018).
Dream Home Manifestation Program, Role: Creator, 2022
An interactive experience featuring instructions for how to manifest the home of your dreams, including a phone hotline, radio performance broadcast on Currents and Waves Radio, workshops, and zine. Presented at the Blue Cabin Floating Artist Residency (Richmond, 2022).
Seiji’s Perfect Day (Popcorn Galaxies), Role: Co-Creator, 2021
An interactive hotline and online archive of perfect days imagined for loved ones. Commissioned by Theatre Replacement, presented at PushOFF (Vancouver, 2021), and featured in PLAY: Dramaturgies of Participation by Jenn Stephenson & Mariah Horner (Playwrights Canada Press, 2024).
Any Day Now, Role: Creator, 2021
A site-responsive installation series honouring recently demolished homes. Presented at grunt gallery Mount Pleasant Community Art Screen (2022), Fort Gallery (2021), the Richmond Cultural Centre Gallery (2021), and BC Housing Central (2021).
The Place We Left, Role: Creator, 2020
A series of maps created as gifts for community members experiencing displacement, to take with them as keepsakes of their homes left behind. Presented at Richmond Culture Days.
Walking Atlas, Role: Creator, 2018
An interactive installation of handmade maps featuring a wide variety of perspectives on a suburban neighbourhood. Created at Branscombe House Artist Residency (Richmond), presented at Doors Open Richmond.
Apocalypse Parade (Popcorn Galaxies), Role: Co-Creator/Performer, 2016
A site specific, roving, parade-theatre performance exploring possible climate futures. Presented at the Fringe Festival (Vancouver, 2016) and developed in a mentorship with The Only Animal.
SELECTED COMMUNITY ENGAGED PROJECTS
Creativity for Connection, Role: Lead Facilitator, 2020 - 2024
Ongoing collaboration at Carnegie Community Centre engaging seniors and Elders in art making and encouraging healthy aging through the arts.
Express Yourself: Aspire Youth Collaboration, Role: Lead Facilitator, 2024
Collaboration with youth through Aspire Richmond and Richmond Public Library to create a legacy project in the library.
Youth Takeover, Role: Lead Facilitator, 2023
Pop-up art installation in Clayton Community Centre created by vulnerable youth working together to creatively take over a public space.
The Books By My Bed, Role: Lead Facilitator, 2023
Interactive art installation in Clayton Library, with community curated book recommendations selected by library users and featured in a rotating display of bedside tables.
Heart to Hearth, Role: Lead Facilitator, 2023
A workshop series and collaborative installation in Clayton Community Centre featuring artwork based on community members' family photos and histories.
In Case You Miss Me, Role: Lead Facilitator, 2021
An anthology of drawings and words by seniors and Elders who participate in Vancouver Parks Board's Arts & Health programs. Each contributor received a copy.
Dearest, Role: Lead Facilitator, 2020
A community art project that encourages interpersonal exchange through creative snail mail, culminating in a public art installation at Lansdowne Skytrain Station. Commissioned by the City of Richmond.
Meeting Places (Popcorn Galaxies), Role: Co-Facilitator, 2019
A year-long community engaged art project based in and around Mount Pleasant Community Centre, featuring public workshops, pop-up events, and community collaborations.
A Spell To Summon One Place Into Another, Role: Lead Facilitator, 2019
A series of public printmaking workshops during the Richmond Children’s Arts Festival to generate content used to create a permanent mural installation inside the Richmond Art Centre.
Home Is…, Role: Lead Facilitator, 2018
An installation created in collaboration with the Richmond Poverty Response Committee expressing each participant’s experience of housing instability. Presented at Housing Central Affordable Housing Conference, with support from the Vancouver Foundation.
You Are Here, Role: Lead Facilitator, 2018
A collection of artwork on the theme of home and belonging created in collaboration with Richmond community members. Presented at Doors Open Richmond.
SELECTED COLLABORATIONS
Middletown, Sticks and Stones Theatre. Role: Projection illustrator, 2024
Frankenkenstein, Ellis Cheadle, Role: Collaborator / performer, 2023 - 2024
All Souls at Mountain View Cemetery, Role: Annual associate artist, 2019-2024
Division Infinity Saves the World, Neworld Theatre, Role: Co-creator/ performer, 2022-2024 Poster Design, Firehall Arts Centre, Role: Illustrator, 2023
Poster Design, Pacific Theatre, Role: Illustrator, 2022-2023
Best Life, Theatre Replacement, Role: Collaborator / illustrator, 2022
Paper Theatre Kit, Gateway Theatre, Role: Illustrator / designer, 2020
Big Bang Bang, Ellis Cheadle, Role: Collaborator / performer, 2019
SELECTED GRANTS & AWARDS
Concept to Realization Grant, Canada Council for the Arts, 2024
Professional Development Grant, B.C. Arts Council, 2024
Project Assistance Grant (Popcorn Galaxies), B.C. Arts Council, 2023
Arts Impact Grant (Popcorn Galaxies), B.C. Arts Council, 2022
Early Career Development Grant - Mentorship, B.C. Arts Council, 2021
Early Career Development Grant - Mentorship, B.C. Arts Council, 2020
Arts Across Canada Travel Grant (Popcorn Galaxies), Canada Council for the Arts, 2019
Explore and Create Grant (Popcorn Galaxies), Canada Council for the Arts, 2018
Gordon Smith Undergraduate Award (most promising student in the SFU SCA), 2014 & 2015
SELECTED TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Terra Nova Nature School, Visual Art Teacher, 2023
Richmond Arts Centre, Visual Art Teacher, 2019 - 2023
Arts Umbrella, Visual Art and Theatre Teacher, 2016 - 2022
Cross Maneuver Art School, Visual Art and Theatre Teacher, 2017
SELECTED VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE
Vancouver Crisis Centre, Mental Health and Crisis Services Responder, 2022 - 2024