Roberta Fallon
“Much art is inaccessible, hidden in museums that are not affordable or in galleries that do not make people feel welcome… Creating community through art and making art accessible go hand in hand, and are cornerstones of my thinking.”
Roberta Fallon is an artist and writer, and co-founder, editor, and executive director of Artblog, the non-profit online arts publication. Originally from Wisconsin, Roberta came to Philadelphia with her family and studied painting, drawing, printmaking and sculpture at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and at Tyler School of Art—where she later taught. She was also a teacher at Saint Joseph’s University and has curated exhibitions at York College of Pennsylvania and The Delaware Contemporary. Early in her career, Roberta began collaborating with artist Libby Rosof. As activists as well as artists, they used innovative materials and approaches, including street performance and giving away their hand-made art to strangers. These attempts to deinstitutionalize art led to Artblog. Launched by Roberta and Libby in 2003--well ahead of most blogs, Artblog featured video gallery talks, podcasts, a writing contest, and more. Since 2005, Roberta and her co-founder have been able to pay their writers. Another point of pride is that in the field of art criticism that is dominated by white males, they constantly push for diversity of coverage and have cultivated a team of writers from diverse backgrounds, races, ethnicities and experiences.
What big ideas have propelled your career?
“Two big ideas have propelled my career: community and accessibility. Much art is inaccessible, hidden in museums that are not affordable or in galleries that do not make people feel welcome. Art is hidden in artist studios. But art can be made accessible by writing about it, showing images of it in a free medium people can access any time day or night. Art can be made accessible by breaking barriers to entry through friendly guided tours, and by studio visits with artists that are distilled into audio podcasts, easily listened to for free on multiple platforms. Without making art accessible, an art community cannot thrive. Creating community through art and making art accessible go hand in hand and are cornerstones of my thinking.”
HOW DOES INNOVATION INFLUENCE YOUR WORK?
“Innovation and collaboration are driving forces in my work. As a collaborating artist with Libby Rosof, we shared ideas, workload and expenses, and we jointly claimed any glory and grant money that came our way. As activists as well as artists, we used innovative materials and approaches to our art, including performing on the street, beginning in 1998, giving away our hand-made art to strangers, in an attempt to de-institutionalize art from museums. Artblog is an outgrowth of our collaboration. Innovative at its core, Artblog was built from the ground up and launched in 2003, well ahead of most art blogs. We were early adopters of video gallery talks, podcasts, a writing contest and more. Our business model was to make enough money to pay writers, which I am proud to say we have been doing since 2005. In a white-male-dominated field (art criticism) we constantly push for diversity of coverage and have grown a team of writers from diverse backgrounds, races, ethnicities and experiences.”
Biography:
Roberta Fallon is an artist and writer and Co-Founder, Editor and Executive Director of Artblog, the non-profit online arts publication started in 2003. Fallon has written for Philadelphia Weekly (1999-2011) and Artnet.com (2000-2005). Her byline has appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News, Art Review Magazine and elsewhere. Fallon has taught at Saint Joseph’s University and Tyler School of Art and has curated exhibitions at York College of Pennsylvania and Delaware Contemporary. Fallon holds a degree in English from the University of Wisconsin and studied painting, drawing, printmaking and sculpture at Tyler School of Art and Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Born in Wisconsin. Fallon and her husband, Steven Kimbrough, have three children. About Artblog: Artblog has been the recipient of program and project grants from the Knight Foundation, J-Lab, Samuel Fels Fund, PA Council on the Arts, Philadelphia Cultural Fund and private foundations. Artblog is valued for its unique annual Art Writing Challenge, innovative guided tours of Philadelphia’s galleries, and a ground-breaking college class in partnership with the Village of Arts and Humanities. Artblog was a finalist for the Warhol/Creative Capital Arts Writing Grant in 2007.