Her Majesty Queen Sonja (b. 1937, Norway) 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 board member.