Michael Fallon is the executive director of Hand Papermaking. After graduating college with degrees in literature and art, Fallon studied books with the artist Buzz Spector and eventually became fascinated enough in them to earn an MFA degree in book arts at the University of Alabama, where he focused on letterpress printing and hand papermaking. In 1998 Fallon moved to Minnesota, where he served as an artist in residence at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts and published an article on paper—his first published arts writing—for Hand Papermaking magazine. He eventually wrote for local and national publications such as Public Art Review, Art in America, and American Craft. In 2005, Fallon went back to school to earn a degree in nonprofit arts management and now has more than ten years of experience managing arts and educational nonprofits.
Maria Olivia Davalos Stanton is the editor of the Hand Papermaking Newsletter. They graduated from Stanford University in 2017 with degrees in Classics and Chemistry and are pursuing their dream of becoming a paper art conservator. They have worked in the conservation labs at the J Paul Getty Museum, Stanford’s Cantor Arts Center, and Stanford’s Library Preservation Department. Maria Olivia learned hand papermaking from Amanda Degener and currently works for Cave Paper and interns at the Midwest Art Conservation Center here in Minneapolis.