Ramona Solberg

Ramona Lorraine Solberg
Born	(1921-05-10)May 10, 1921 Watertown, South Dakota, US
Died	June 13, 2005(2005-06-13) (aged 84) Seattle, Washington, US
Occupation	jewelry designer, teacher
Years active	1956–2005
Known for	substantial, innovative jewelry design

Ramona Solberg (1921–2005) created large jewellery using found objects; she was an influential teacher at the University of Washington School of Art and often referred to as the "grandmother of Northwest found-art jewelry". She was an art instructor in and around Seattle for three decades as well as a prolific jewelry artist.

Ramona Lorraine Solberg was born 10 May 1921, in Watertown, South Dakota, but her family relocated to Seattle, Washington before Solberg's second birthday. She enlisted in the Women’s Army Corps in 1943 during the Second World War and served until 1950. Using her G.I. Bill benefits, she went to Morelia and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico and studied jewelry making and weaving at several universities. Then she went to Norway and worked with enameling. Returning to the US, she completed both a bachelor's and a master's degree at the University of Washington and studied with Ruth Pennington.

From 1951 to 1956 Solberg taught at James Monroe Jr. High School, and then worked until 1967 as an associate professor at Central Washington State College in Ellensburg, Washington. From that time until her 1983 retirement, Solberg was an art professor at the University of Washington.

Though Solberg made some jewelry in her studies, she did not create her first piece of jewelry using beads and found objects until 1956, while at Central Washington State College. Her jewelry was large, rather than typical delicate, precious jewelry. She created her jewelry to be worn and to be worn by large women.

In the 1960s, she began traveling. Her first round-the-world trip included visits to Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Nepal, picking up beads at every stop. When she returned, she published a book Inventive Jewelry Making in 1972. Solberg and a Seattle group called Friends of the Crafts began making annual travels through Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Africa and even one trip to Antarctica to both study crafts in other areas and obtain artifacts that could be used in their own works.

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