About the Prairie Arts Team

Prairie Arts, based near Chicago, is a design/manufacturing studio owned by a trio of 30-somethings determined to make timeless modern decorative accents available to a broad marketplace.  Husband/wife partners Bryan and Lisa Kelly, along with Lisa’s brother Eric O’Malley, have combined backgrounds in graphic design and business.  Enamored of rare, locally-produced vintage Teco ceramics and the decorative arts of Frank Lloyd Wright,  the Kellys and O’Malley immersed themselves in the history, production and ideals of the hundred-year old Prairie School.

Their goal: to offer authorized reproductions that would blend gracefully with today’s interiors.  For their Teco ceramics, bringing their own design experience to bear, they winnowed hundreds of potential shapes down to a select few, retaining historic colors and in some cases adding new contemporary hues. “We've been lucky enough to live in a region celebrated for its progressive ideas on design, art and architecture. The principles behind the historic work profoundly influenced our design approach,” notes O’Malley.  Prairie School modernists championed integrated design, handcraftsmanship and industrial production. We offer work genuine to those ideals, that is resolutely high quality, yet affordable.”

Eric O'Malley, Partner
Product Development Director

Eric spearheads the development of new products.

A graphic design degree in 1997 from Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois, prepared Eric for prestigious in-house graphics positions at Leo Burnett, United Airlines, and Sourcebooks, and then art direction at AGI Media.  While renovating his own house in 2004 in the spirit of Frank Lloyd Wright, the idea for Prairie Arts was born:

“I wanted to duplicate a wooden light grille from the Wright home and studio in nearby Oak Park, and couldn’t find anything on the market. After some investigation, I located a manufacturer to reproduce it for me.”  Eric, Lisa and Bryan were so transfixed by the initial prototype, they resolved to form a company to produce selected icons by Wright. Prairie Arts launched in 2005, and quickly the partners became the youngest licensee of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.  Two years later, they developed a second product line, the Teco Art Pottery Collection™, likewise rooted in Prairie School philosophy.

Lisa Kelly, Partner
Creative Design Director

Lisa manages the conception, execution and presentation of everything visual.

Prior to co-founding Prairie Arts, Lisa ran her own graphic design studio, with clients such as Amgen, Benjamin Moore, Valspar and Sears. The firm created graphic solutions for publication, packaging, point of purchase, identity, collateral, and web.  Lisa has a B.S. (1999) in Communications from Middle Tennessee State University.  Her design approach simultaneously emphasizes the timeless and modern attributes of Prairie Arts’ products.

Bryan Kelly, Partner
Sales & Operations Director

Bryan graduated in 1999 from Belmont University in Nashville, where he studied commercial music, record company operations and music publishing.  He went on to manage sales, student recruitment and operations for the burgeoning online division of DeVry University, a for-profit corporation. The mix of fine art creativity and business acumen uniquely positioned Bryan to launch a creative company and keep it running smoothly.
 
For additional information about Prairie Arts, call 800.594.3148 or email info@prairie-arts.com.