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Vaughn Bell

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Not to be confused with Vonn Bell.
Vaughn Bell
Vaughn Bell creating Village Green, 2013
Born1978
Syracuse, New York
NationalityAmerican
EducationMFA, Massachusetts College of Art in Boston, MA
BA, Brown University in Providence, RI
Known forSculpture, Installation, Performance, Video
Websitewww.vaughnbell.net

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]

Work

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External videos
video icon 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 [Wikidata][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

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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
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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

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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

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  1. ^ Bell, Vaughn. "Resume: Vaughn Elizabeth Bell" (PDF). Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  2. ^ a b c "Village Green". Science History Institute. August 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ a b Bell, Vaughn. "One Big House". Retrieved 8 January 2014.
  5. ^ a b "About Vaughn Bell". ARTSblog. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  6. ^ "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.
  7. ^ "Welcome Home". Schuylkill Center. Retrieved 8 January 2014.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ "Vaughn Bell". greenmuseum.org. 2010. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  10. ^ Bell, Vaughn (2011-04-12). "Embedded in Transportation". ARTSblog. Retrieved 2014-01-08.
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