kate oltmann

I am an artist living and working in rural Northwest Montana, where my family homesteaded and built structures in Glacier National Park. My work is rooted in the land, labor, lineage, and traditions that shaped the American West and continue to shape it today.
I work in cyanotype and oil paint, integrating quilt patterns passed down through generations. Often dismissed as "craft" due to their association with women's work, these patterns become a central visual language in my paintings. They act as echoes of the women whose hands built and sustained the West, yet whose stories have largely gone unrecorded.
I am interested in depicting the West as it exists now; where tradition is not a relic, but a living practice carried forward by families and communities. My paintings function as both record and reflection: honoring the quiet labor of women while examining the present-day reality of the West through pattern, gesture, and grit.

Represented By:
Manifestations Gallery, Eureka, MT
The Cowboy Emporium Fine Art Gallery, Cheyenne, WY

Currently on view at:
MoNA Museum of Northwest Art, WA
CM Russell Museum, MT
Calgary Stampede, AB, Canada
Yellowstone Art Museum, MT


Previously shown at:
Big Sky Arts Museum, MT
Sears Museum, UT
APHA, TX
Sedona Art Center, AZ
ZAAC, MT
Carbon City Arts Guild, MT