Kelly Rappleye (she/her) is a Glasgow-based curator and AHRC/SGSAH-Awarded PhD researcher with Glasgow School of Art. She completed an MA in Contemporary Art Theory at Goldsmiths, UOL and has previous experience in arts publishing, alongside a professional background in community mental health. Currently, she is a curator with 16NSt curatorial collective, dedicated to supporting early-career womxn, queer and class-marginalised artists and feminist curatorial models. Kelly’s curatorial research explores the intersections of urban landscapes, artists’ moving image practice, and themes of place-based memory, spatial politics, urban archives, and social histories.
Her doctoral research examines how contemporary Scottish moving image art unsettles nationalist urban imaginaries and colonial legacies in urban space, fostering new forms of transnational memory. Rappleye has contributed to print and academic journals, presented research at conferences, conducted curatorial workshops, and serves as a Teaching Assistant in GSA’s Fine Art Critical Studies BA. Recent notable curatorial projects with 16NSt curatorial collective include Scotland’s first survey of contemporary womxn’s collage “Rupture, Rapture: Womxn in Collage” (Aug – Sep 2023) and “Hush lil baby…” (Nov – Dec 2023), each featuring exhibition, residency, and publication.
