Oral history interview with Hendres E. Kelly

Hendres E. Kelly, a Panamanian artist, spoke about his father and mother, including their work in the canal zone and immigrating to Panama from Jamaica and Colombia, respectively; his father's work on the Panama Canal as an American contractor; his mother as the decision maker of the family; attending a private West Indian school and Panamanian public school, and working at the Hilton Hotel while taking art classes at night in Panama City; the many types of art techniques and media he studied and applied to his paid work; why he immigrated to the United States; being drafted by U.S. army in 1961, completing basic training, and being stationed in France, where he met and learned from artists; and living and working as an artist in New York City and Washington, DC. Kelly explained he was born in the canal zone but grew up in Panama City because only English could be spoke in the canal zone; the multi-cultural dishes he cooked because of the mixture of ethnicities in Panama; and differences between Panama City and the Canal Zone. He also spoke about family history, being bilingual, his language challenges while living in the United States, and capturing history, ancestry, place, and mixture of cultures and ethnicities in his artwork. Hendres E. Kelly was interviewed by Tamara Brown. Interview is in English. Digital audio files include loud white noise and static, and some background noise; interviewee's voice is soft in volume and difficult to hear at times. Additionally, there is some sound distortion at the beginning of the interview.