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Kit Flannery was born December 24, 1933 in Evanston, Illinois to army parents and married John Flannery in Auburn, Alabama in 1953. She attended several schools over the next two decades—including the University of Maryland, University of Utah, University of California Berkeley, San Francisco State University, and Humboldt State University—before moving to Logan, Utah to study art at Utah State University.

During a 1971 trip to Kenya, Flannery discovered a passion for fabric-based art after seeing the country’s bold, bright textiles. Upon returning home from Kenya, she sold all the pieces she had created during her time there, holding multiple jobs before becoming a self-proclaimed professional artist in 1973. She was commissioned to complete a number of works, including her largest piece: a 20 feet tall by 20 feet wide piece that hangs in the lobby of the Heber Wells State Office Building in Salt Lake City, Utah. Flannery was also active in her community, co-founding the Park City Art Festival, one of the top-ranked art festivals in the country.

In 1987 Flannery and her husband John divorced after 34 years of marriage. They had one daughter together, Colleen Flannery, who died of a rare form of cancer in 2013. Among Flannery’s many hobbies are shooting, golf, tennis, racquetball, skiing, backpacking, archaeology, and birdwatching. She has also traveled extensively, visiting places such as Borneo, Thailand, Tanzania, the Himalayas, and the Seychelles. Flannery lives in Hyde Park, Utah, where she has resided since 1971.