Board

Founder and patron

Her Majesty Queen Sonja is the founder of the Queen Sonja Print Award and the Queen Sonja Art Foundation. Passionate about printmaking and graphic art, and herself an artist, the Queen had a wish to establish an award to support and encourage young artists within this field. In January 2011, HM Queen Sonja established the Foundation, The Queen Sonja Nordic Art Award, together with renowned Norwegian artists Kjell Nupen and Ørnulf Opdahl, and Swedish master printer Ole Larsen. The award went international in 2014 and was renamed the Queen Sonja Print Award.

Queen Sonja exhibited for the first time in 2011, in connection with the establishment of the Queen Sonja Nordic Art. The Queen has held various exhibitions throughout Norway and abroad in the last ten years. Solo shows have been presented at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney (2015) and at KODE Art Museums and Composer Homes, Bergen (2017). She has participated in exhibitions at Scandinavian House, New York, in Aarhus, Denmark and in London, UK. The Queen has had collaborative projects with reputable Norwegian artists such as Kjell Nupen, Magne Furuholmen and Ørnulf Opdahl, as well as international master printers such as Rasmus Urwal, Edition Copenhagen in Denmark, Ole Larsen at Atelje Larsen, Sweden and Bill Goldston, Universal Limited Art Editions, Long Island, New York.

The Queen has held the position of Chairman of the QSPA board since its foundation. She stepped down in January 2023, but still plays an active and significant role as a board member.

Director of the board

Gry Mølleskog is a Norwegian Business Executive, former Lord Chamberlain at the Royal Palace in Oslo, and Chair of the Board of the Queen Sonja Art Foundation. She is Group CEO of the international live entertainment company All Things Live and CEO of their Norwegian affiliate All Things Live Norway. Mølleskog was a senior partner at Korn/Ferry International AS in Oslo (2006 - 2011), and she was Senior Vice President (1980 - 2003) and head of the Cabin Crew Department at SAS.

In 2022, Mølleskog was bestowed the Grand Cross of the Order of St. Olav. She was appointed Commander with a star of the Order of St. Olav in 2021, HM The King's Commemorative Medal in 2018, and the King's Medal of Merit in 2012 as leader of the Royal Secretariat. In 2006, she was made Knight of the 1st Order of St. Olav.

Anne Hilde Neset is the Director of Henie Onstad Art Centre. She has extensive experience as a leader and curator within various music, media, and art institutions both in Oslo and in London. She was a founder of the contemporary art agency Electra Productions, London and Deputy Editor of the British music magazine The Wire. Neset was previously Director of Oslo's Kunstnernes Hus; Artistic Director at the music organization nyMusikk, and founded the festivals Off the Page Oslo and Only Connect. She also has a broad experience as a broadcaster, notably as presenter for BBC Radio 3 and has written and lectured extensively on music and art for magazines and institutions internationally.

Cecilie Malm Brundtland is an art advisor, collector, and published author. In 2012, she founded Brundtland & Krosby together with Anette Krosby to provide art advisory services to corporate and individual collectors. Brundtland & Krosby represent the international auction house Sotheby's in Norway.

Brundtland holds a master’s degree in art history from the University of Oslo, has extensive experience as a freelance curator, and is the author of several books. She is a board member of the Ingrid, Synnøve, and Elias Fegersten’s Foundation for Norwegian Visual Artists.

Haavard Homstvedt is a Norwegian artist working primarily with painting, as well as with drawing, sculpture, printmaking, and installation. Homstvedt received his artistic education from Yale University School of Art and Rhode Island School of Design.

Homstvedt's paintings have been characterised by their textile-like surfaces and thoroughly treated canvases with varied materiality. The renowned art magazine Art Review has listed Homstvedt as one of 25 up-and-coming artists, and his work has been acquired by the National Museum of Norway, Sørlandets Kunstmuseum, Kistefos Museum, and Yale University.

Magne Furuholmen is a renowned Norwegian visual artist, musician, composer, and poet. He started his professional visual practice in 1989, and works within a wide range of mediums, with printmaking and sculpture as core parts of his extensive oeuvre. He was a student of the Norwegian visual artist Kjell Nupen.

Furuholmen has exhibited widely on the international art scene, and his work is represented in institutions and private collections around the world. He holds an Honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts (D.F.A.) from the University of Agder and was in 2012 made Knight of the 1st Order of St. Olav by HM King Harald of Norway for service to mankind.

Thorhild Widvey is a Norwegian sports, culture, and business executive, management consultant, and politician for the Conservative Party. She holds a degree from BI Norwegian Business School. Widvey was a member of parliament for Rogaland County (1989 - 1997), and she has served as Minister of Oil and Energy (2004 - 2005) and Minister of Culture (2013 - 2015). She has also held the position as State Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2003 - 2004) and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries (2002 - 2003).

Widvey holds the position as chair for Statkraft AS, Vår Energi ASA, and Bergen International Music Festival, among others.