Randi Hvatum

Randi Hvatum (1926 - 2016) was a Norwegian-American artist who mainly worked with portraits and landscapes using oil paints, watercolors, and pastels.

Hvatum was born in 1926 in Trondheim, Norway. She attended Norwegian Institute of Technology, where she studied under Harald Stabell and met her future husband, Hein. She also attended the University of Gothenberg in Sweden, where she studied oil painting and composition with Göran Salmonson.

In 1959, she with her family moved to West Virginia, U.S.A, after her husband, Hein, accepted a job with the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) in West Virginia. In 1961, her husband received a permanent position with NRAO in Charlottesville, where the family relocated in 1965.

While in the U.S., Hvatum maintained her passion for arts and established a studio at the McGuffey Art Center - a cooperative nonprofit organization in Charlottesville, Virginia. In addition, she organized numerous art exhibitions in the U.S. and internationally, specifically in Norway, Sweden, and Canada.

She died on 7 January 2016, at the age of 89. A memorial service to celebrate her life and work was held at the McGuffey Art Center.
She was survived by her daughter, Elisabeth Hvatum, and son Kjeld Hvatum, and his wife, Margaret.