Vaughn Bell (born 1978, Syracuse, New York) is an environmental artist working with sculpture, installation, performance and video, who lives and works in Seattle, Washington. Vaughn received her MFA from the Studio for Inter-related Media at Massachusetts College of Art in Boston, MA and her undergraduate degree from Brown University, where her work focused on "Nature and Culture: Human Perspectives on the Natural Environment".[1]
Vaughn Bell | |
|---|---|
 Vaughn Bell creating Village Green, 2013 | |
| Born | 1978 Syracuse, New York |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | MFA, Massachusetts College of Art in Boston, MA BA, Brown University in Providence, RI |
| Known for | Sculpture, Installation, Performance, Video |
| Website | www |
Work
edit| External videos | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Vaughn Bell, “The experience of a piece is actually your viewpoint when you're inside it”, Science History Institute |
Bell creates interactive projects and immersive environments which affect the ways in which we relate to our environment.[2] She has exhibited her sculpture, installation, performance, video and public projects internationally. Her commissions include installations at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art,[3] the Edith Russ Site for New Media Art in Oldenburg, Germany,[4][5] the Owens Walter E. Terhune Art Gallery in Ohio,[6] and the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education[7] and Chemical Heritage Foundation[8][2] in Philadelphia, PA. Her work has been featured in Artnews, Afterimage, and Arcade Journal, among others.[5]
Many of her pieces are "personal biospheres", living spaces into which people can insert themselves at eye-to-ground level to intimately experience the sight, smell, and touch of a growing world. Some are single-person environments while others, like the "biosphere for three" at the Edith Russ House, accommodate multiple people.[2][3][4] Vaughn Bell has also explored the boundaries between plants and people by making plants a part of wearable clothing, and treating them like pets.[9]
Bell has been employed as a “staff artist” by the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT), working on arts planning and integrating design enhancements into public projects such as trails, sidewalks, and bridges.[10]
Selected Public Art
edit| Image | Title | Date(s) | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
Plantscapes | 2021 | Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, London, UK |
| Ship Canal Water Quality Project | 2018-2024 | Seattle, WA; Seattle Public Utilities; Seattle Office of Arts and Culture | |
| Rain Gardens - Public Art | 2019-ongoing | Seattle, WA and surrounding King County; King County Water and Land Resources Division; 4Culture | |
 |
All the Rivers in the World | 2019 | University of Washington, Tacoma, WA |
 |
Path of Water / Percorso d'acqua | 2017 | Hermitage of San Bartolomeo, Legio, Abruzzo, Italy |
| Public Art Master Plan for Drainage and Wastewater | 2016-2017 | Seattle, WA; Seattle Public Utilities; Seattle Office of Arts and Culture | |
 |
Mossuments | 2013 | Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, Philadelphia, PA |
 |
Metropolis | 2012 | Seattle Center, Seattle, WA; Seattle Center Foundation |
 |
Again, Life Becomes a River | 2007 | Kamiyama, Japan |
Selected Museum and Gallery Exhibitions
edit| Image | Title | Date(s) | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
Local Homes | 2018 | Chicago Botanic Garden, Chicago, IL |
| This Land is Your Land | 2017 | Alcott Gallery, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC | |
| Transported Landscapes | 2011 | Walter E. Terhune Gallery, Owens College, Toledo, Ohio | |
 |
Thinking Caps | 2010 | Jack Straw New Media Gallery, Seattle, WA |
 |
Village Green / Badlands | 2008 | Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, North Adams, MA |
| Becoming a River | 2007 | Kamiyama, Japan |
Grants, commissions and awards
edit- 2012
- Fellow, Virginia Center for Creative Arts, Amherst, VA
- 2010
- 4Culture Grant for ALIVE (A Low Impact Vehicle Exhibition)
- 2009-2010
- Jack Straw Productions New Media Gallery Residency
- 2009
- 4Culture Special Projects Grant recipient for "This Land" book
- 2007
- 4Culture Special Projects Grant recipient for "From Sea to Shining Sea"
- 4Culture Site Specific Performance Network Grant for "CUV”
- Kamiyama Japan International Artist in Residence
- 2006
- Full Fellowship, Vermont Studio Center
- Nancy Graves Foundation Fellow, Millay Colony
- 2005
- Home Biosphere Commission for the offices of Carmichael Lynch, Minneapolis, MN
- 2004
- Artist in Research Grant, Berwick Research Institute, Boston, MA
- Work installed in the offices of the New England Foundation For the Arts, Boston, MA
References
edit- ^ Bell, Vaughn. "Resume: Vaughn Elizabeth Bell" (PDF). Retrieved 9 January 2014.
- ^ a b c "Village Green". Science History Institute. August 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
- ^ a b "Badlands: New Horizons in Landscape". MASS MoCA (Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art). 2008-05-24. Archived from the original on 2008-06-16. Retrieved 2014-01-08.
- ^ a b Bell, Vaughn. "One Big House". Retrieved 8 January 2014.
- ^ a b "About Vaughn Bell". ARTSblog. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
- ^ "Owens Walter E. Terhune Art Gallery Presents "Vaughn Bell: Transported Landscapes" Exhibit, Feb. 18 – March 29". Owens Community College. 2011-02-10. Retrieved 2014-01-08.
- ^ "Welcome Home". Schuylkill Center. Retrieved 8 January 2014.
- ^ Thomas-Anderson, Monet (1 July 2013). "Sensing Change at the Chemical Heritage Foundation". Campus Philly. Archived from the original on 4 August 2013. Retrieved 8 January 2014.
- ^ "Vaughn Bell". greenmuseum.org. 2010. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
- ^ Bell, Vaughn (2011-04-12). "Embedded in Transportation". ARTSblog. Retrieved 2014-01-08.