Kelda Martensen is a visual artist who works in printmaking, collage, book arts and murals. She is the 2019 recipient of the Larry Sommers Fellowship. Past awards include the Bell Cramer Award in Printmaking and the Conceptual Visionary Award from Pratt Fine Art Center. Her teaching awards include the Dan Evans Innovation in Teaching Award, the John and Suanne Roueche Excellence Award and Association of Women Faculty Graduate Award. She was an Artist-in-Residence at Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, France in 2011 and at Pratt Fine Art Center in Seattle in 2016 and is a participant in the Artist Residency in Motherhood, an ongoing, open-source project organized by Lenka Clayton. Her prints and artist books are in private and public collections including King County, the City of Tacoma, Google, Washington University in St. Louis Special Collections Library, Southern Graphics Council International Archive, Bokartas Contemporary Art Center, Nancy Spirtas Kranzberg Studio for the Illustrated Book, University of Missouri and Willamette University.
Martensen is tenured faculty of art at North Seattle College. Martensen earned a BA in Studio Art from Willamette University and an MFA in Visual Art with a focus in Printmaking and Book Arts from Washington University in St. Louis. She is represented by J. Rinehart Gallery and lives in Seattle, Washington.
