CV

Roberta Bell

Textile-focused Mixed Media Artist

Current Galleries
Arrowmont Gallery, 110 S Gay Street, Knoxville, TN
The Arts Center of Cannon County, Woodbury, TN

Juried Shows: 
“Reflection”, Tennessee Craft Member Exhibition, Pryor Gallery, Columbia, TN, Oct 27-Dec 11, 2025 (Regional)

Multiple pieces, The Art of Craft, Centennial Art Center, Nashville, TN, Aug 8 -Sept 18, 2025 (Local)

“Rising from a Land of Fire and Smoke”, Figment: A Juried National Exhibition of Fanciful, Whimsical and Surreal Artworks, July 5 – August 2, 2025, d’Art Center, Norfolk, VA (National)

“Reflection”, Threading the Needle: National Art Quilt Exhibition, November 7 – December 12, 2024, Webber Gallery, College of Central Florida (National)

“Rising from a Land of Fire and Smoke”, Best of Tennessee Craft, 2024 Biennial, October 14-December 13, 2024, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN (State)

“Nammu, Goddess of the Primeval Seas“, Fantastical, August 17, 2024 – September 21, 2024, South Haven Center for the Arts, South Haven, MI (International)

Multiple pieces, The Art of Craft, Centennial Art Center, Nashville, TN, August 9-Sept 18, 2024 (Local)

“Nammu, Goddess of the Primeval Seas”, 47th Mid-States Craft Exhibition, November 24, 2023 – March 17, 2024, Evansville Museum, Evansville, IN (Regional)

“Nammu, Goddess of the Primeval Seas”, Fearlessly and Wonderfully Created Fine Art Show, April 20-22, 2023, Nashville, TN (Regional)

“Nammu, Goddess of the Primeval Seas”, Wonderland Exhibit, Trolley Barn Gallery, Poughkeepsie, NY, Sept 15-Oct 31, 2022 (International)

“Nammu, Goddess of the Primeval Seas”, Best of Tennessee Craft Exhibit, Tennessee State Museum, Nashville, TN, Oct 29, 2021-Feb 20, 2022 (State)

Multiple pieces, The Art of Craft, Centennial Art Center, Nashville, TN, Oct 12-Nov 18, 2020 (Local)

Multiple pieces, The Art of Craft, Centennial Art Center, Nashville, TN, Aug 16-Sept 23, 2019 (Local)

Solo Shows:
John P. Holt Brentwood Library, July 1-30, 2024

Invited Talks: 
Trolley Barn Gallery, Poughkeepsie, NY, Artist Talk, October 1, 2022.

Curated Group Shows: 
TN Craft Mid-State Member Showcase, Brentwood Public Library, Nashville, TN, July 2022 
TN Craft Mid-State Member Showcase, Green Hills Public Library, Nashville, TN, May 2019
Pop-up Art Show, Chris Bubany & Friends Gallery, Tucson, AZ, Feb & Mar 2019 

Teaching and Demonstrations: 
White Oak Craft Fair (Demonstration), Woodbury, TN, September 13-14, 2025
Textile Landscape Design Workshop, Centennial Art Center, Nashville, TN, August 22-23, 2025

Art/Craft Fairs: 
Open Studio Art Crawl, Nashville, TN, December 13-14, 2025
Monthly Nightly Market, 100 Taylor Arts Collective, Nashville, TN, Third Saturday, 4-9pm, 2025 (Juried)
Tennessee Craft Fair, Nashville, TN, October 10-12, 2025 (Mentor for emerging makers) (Juried)
NGC Flower Show, Cheekwood Estate & Garden, September 24, 2024
Tennessee Craft Fair, Nashville, TN, October 11-13, 2024 (emerging makers) (Juried)
Crafting Change, Virgin Hotel, Nashville, TN, October 25, 2024
Open Studio Art Crawl, Nashville, TN, December 14-15, 2024
Open Studio Art Crawl, Nashville, TN, December 9-10, 2023
Open Studio Art Crawl, Nashville, TN, December 10-11, 2022
Tennessee Craft Fair, Nashville, TN, October 7-9 2022 (mentor for emerging artists) (Juried) (Family emergency, was unable to attend)
Tennessee Craft Fair, Nashville, TN, May 6-8, 2022 (mentor for emerging artists) (Juried)
Open Studio Art Crawl, Nashville, TN, December 11-12, 2021
Art on the Westside, Nashville, TN, October 2021 (Juried)
Tennessee Craft Fair, Nashville, TN, October 2020-January 2021 (virtual, emerging artist) (Juried)
Handmade Holiday Crawl, Nashville, TN, December 2019 
Handmade Nashville, Nashville, TN, November 2018

Press, Media:
Web: Mainstreet Nashville
October 29, 2021: “Best of Tennessee’s craft work featured in new exhibit”
“In a vibrant triptych by Nashville artist Roberta Bell, a swirling ocean of thread and embellishment bustles around Nammu, goddess of the primeval seas, as she stands guard over a world of oceanic creatures. Bell used found materials to create a commentary on climate change and the impact of human activity on the natural world.”

Print: The Green Hill News
October 21, 2020: “Metro Parks Centennial Art Center Gallery presents annual Art of Craft exhibit”
“Roberta Bell creates visual vignettes with fantastical fabric figures in elaborate textile backdrops. Her figures portray various narratives and adventures and evoke the viewer’s imagination to consider the world within the frame…and beyond.”

Television: Talk of the Town – Nashville, TN
October 5, 2020: Two works of art displayed and discussed as part of TV episode covering the Tennessee Craft Fall Fair

Artist Statement: 
I have always been drawn to the stylized design of art and crafts from the prehistoric Egyptians to the early Mesoamerican cultures. The small objects that survive have inspired my own small, whimsical, Wild Lulu fabric figures. Just as the ancient objects embodied animistic characters, each of my figures becomes a character as I shape it with embellishments. My larger pieces are inspired by landscapes I treasure, which are currently at risk from climate change and other human pressures – whether it is the jungle, the sea, or the desert. In this vein, I also give a second life to many materials in my pieces from the reclaimed wood, formerly used as lintels and trim, to the fabric pieces too small to use for anything else. Fabric and fiber are foundational in my work as I have worked with both since childhood, learning at the feet of my mother, while the love of wood comes from my father, who taught me and generations of teens the finer details of woodworking. Thematically, my work is a nod to the viewer’s childhood, like bringing to life a page in a child’s book. In essence, my works are stylized and whimsical with a slight flavor of animism. 

Volunteer Activities:
Abe’s Garden Art Club, co-teacher, 2023-current
Tennessee Craft State Board Subcommittee on Professional Development, 2024-current
Tennessee Craft Fair volunteer, Spring 2025, Spring & Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2021, Fall 2018 
Tennessee Craft Midstate Board and Midstate Chapter Representative to Tennessee Craft State Board, 2020-2021
Tennessee Craft Midstate, Event Committee Member, 2020 
Tennessee Craft Midstate, Handmade Holiday Crawl Committee, 2019