{{Short description|American Environmental Artist}} {{distinguish|Vonn Bell}} '''Vaughn Bell''' (born 1978, Syracuse, New York) is an artist primarily working in ecological art, sculpture, installation, environmental art and public art. She is known for her "Village Greens" art installations with living plants, which have been shown in museums and other venues internationally.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Village Greens |url=https://www.vaughnbell.net/villagegreens.html |access-date=2026-03-12 |website=VAUGHN BELL STUDIO |language=en}}</ref> Bell is also recognized for her public art projects included in collections such as the City of Seattle Public Art Collection<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://seattlearts.emuseum.com/objects/4842/saltwater-streets-watershed-from-drain-to-sea-wallingford?ctx=edae79cf7f33cce2ef520b1580643546d17003b7&idx=5 |access-date=2026-03-12 |website=seattlearts.emuseum.com|title=Seattle eMuseum}}</ref> and Washington State Arts Commission Collection.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Artist Collection |url=https://www.arts.wa.gov/collection/artist-collection/ |access-date=2026-03-12 |website=ArtsWA |language=en-US}}</ref> Bell lives and works in Seattle, Washington and works on art projects around the world.
== Work == {{external media | width = 225px | float = right | headerimage=210px | video1 = [https://www.sciencehistory.org/village-green Vaughn Bell, “The experience of a piece is actually your viewpoint when you're inside it”], Science History Institute }}
Vaughn Bell creates socially engaged art projects that influence how humans relate to their environment.<ref name="SensingChange">{{cite web|title=Village Green|date=August 2016 |url=https://www.sciencehistory.org/village-green|publisher=Science History Institute|accessdate=26 March 2018}}</ref> She is focused on creating "convivial spaces" in which people can experience a symbiotic connection to their local ecologies.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ABOUT |url=https://www.vaughnbell.net/about.html |access-date=2026-03-12 |website=VAUGHN BELL STUDIO |language=en}}</ref>
Vaughn Bell's ongoing "Village Greens" series has included projects at venues ranging from [https://www.museabrugge.be Musee Brugge]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gavin Turk: Rebel Garden |url=https://www.gavinturk.com/exhibitions/2024/rebel-garden |access-date=2026-03-12 |website=www.gavinturk.com |language=en}}</ref> and [https://www.kunsthaus.ch/en/ Kunsthaus Zurich],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Growing Hills |url=https://www.vaughnbell.net/growing-hills.html |access-date=2026-03-12 |website=VAUGHN BELL STUDIO |language=en}}</ref> to the Discovery Center at the Gates Foundation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Themes |url=https://www.discovergates.org/exhibitions/a-better-way-to-go/themes/ |access-date=2026-03-12 |website=Gates Discovery Center |language=en-US}}</ref> Her commissions also include installations at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art,<ref name="MASSMoCA">{{cite web|title=Badlands: New Horizons in Landscape|url=http://www.massmoca.org/event_details.php?id=369|publisher=MASS MoCA (Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art)|date=2008-05-24|accessdate=2014-01-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080616140233/http://www.massmoca.org/event_details.php?id=369|archive-date=2008-06-16|url-status=dead}}</ref> the Edith Russ Site for New Media Art in Oldenburg, Germany,<ref name="OneBigHouse">{{cite web|last=Bell|first=Vaughn|title=One Big House|url=http://www.vaughnbell.net/onebighouse/index.html|accessdate=8 January 2014}}</ref><ref name="ARTSblogBio">{{cite web|title=About Vaughn Bell|url=http://blog.artsusa.org/?author=267%22|publisher=ARTSblog|accessdate=9 January 2014}}</ref> the Owens Walter E. Terhune Art Gallery in Ohio,<ref name="Owens">{{cite web|title=Owens Walter E. Terhune Art Gallery Presents "Vaughn Bell: Transported Landscapes" Exhibit, Feb. 18 – March 29|url=https://www2.owens.edu/news-releases/?p=1854|publisher=Owens Community College|date=2011-02-10|accessdate=2014-01-08}}</ref> the [https://schuylkillcenter.org Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education]<ref name="WelcomeHome">{{cite web|title=Welcome Home|url=http://www.schuylkillcenter.org/art/?ha_exhibit=welcome-home|publisher=Schuylkill Center|accessdate=8 January 2014}}</ref> and the Chemical Heritage Foundation<ref name="CampusPhilly">{{cite web|last=Thomas-Anderson|first=Monet|title=Sensing Change at the Chemical Heritage Foundation|url=http://campusphilly.org/2013/07/01/sensing-change-at-the-chemical-heritage-foundation/|publisher=Campus Philly|date=2013-07-01|accessdate=8 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130804044427/http://campusphilly.org/2013/07/01/sensing-change-at-the-chemical-heritage-foundation/|archive-date=4 August 2013|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref name="SensingChange" /> in Philadelphia, PA.
Vaughn Bell's earlier works often use performance and humor to point to paradoxical ways humans relate to other species.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ARCHIVE |url=https://www.vaughnbell.net/older-works.html |access-date=2026-03-12 |website=VAUGHN BELL STUDIO |language=en}}</ref> Bell has also explored the boundaries between plants and people by making plants a part of wearable clothing, and caring for them like pets.<ref name="greenmuseum">{{cite web|title=Vaughn Bell|url=http://www.greenmuseum.org/artist_index.php?artist_id=166|publisher=greenmuseum.org|date=2010|accessdate=9 January 2014}}</ref>
Bell has extensive experience in the field of public art, focusing on water and transportation infrastructure.<ref>{{Cite web |title=PUBLIC ART PLANNING |url=https://www.vaughnbell.net/public-art-planning.html |access-date=2026-03-12 |website=VAUGHN BELL STUDIO |language=en}}</ref> 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.<ref name="ARTSblog">{{cite web|last=Bell|first=Vaughn|title=Embedded in Transportation|url=http://blog.artsusa.org/2011/04/12/embedded-in-transportation/|publisher=ARTSblog|date=2011-04-12|accessdate=2014-01-08}}</ref> She wrote a Public Art Master Plan for Seattle Public Utilties Drainage and Wastewater.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lindsay |first=Erika |date=2018-07-26 |title=Vision for Public Art Seattle Public Utilities |url=https://artbeat.seattle.gov/2018/07/26/vision-for-public-art-seattle-public-utilities/ |access-date=2026-03-12 |website=Art Beat |language=en-US}}</ref> Bell has also served as Lead Artist on the Ship Canal Water Quality Project in Seattle.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ship Canal Water Quality Project - Utilities {{!}} seattle.gov |url=https://www.seattle.gov/utilities/neighborhood-projects/ship-canal#publicart |access-date=2026-03-12 |website=www.seattle.gov}}</ref> Bell worked with King County Rainscapes to create a rain garden art guide and a sculptural rain garden art installation.<ref>{{Cite web |last=4Culture |date=2025-02-27 |title=Water, Water Everywhere: Public art projects support human and ecological health |url=https://www.4culture.org/water-water-everywhere-public-art-projects-support-human-and-ecological-health/ |access-date=2026-03-12 |website=4Culture |language=en-US}}</ref>
In 2021, Bell created "Plantscapes" at Kew Royal Botanic Garden, a series of large-scale sculptural installations created in collaboration with horticulturalists. "Plantscapes" was an artwork that brought people and plants up close.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The inspiration behind Plantscapes {{!}} Kew |url=https://www.kew.org/read-and-watch/the-inspiration-plantscapes-vaughn-bell |access-date=2026-03-12 |website=www.kew.org |language=en}}</ref>
Bell's work has been featured in Artnews, Afterimage, and Arcade Journal, among others.<ref name="ARTSblogBio" /> Her work is also included in [https://uwapress.uw.edu/book/9780295991641/the-new-earthwork/ The New Earthwork: Art Action Agency], from ISC Press and [https://www.thamesandhudsonusa.com/books/art-and-ecology-now-hardcover Art and Ecology Now] by Andrew Brown from Thames and Hudson
== Selected Environmental Artworks == {| class="wikitable" |- ! Image !! Title !! Date(s) !! Location |- | thumb|| ''Plantscapes'' || 2021 || Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, London, UK |- | thumb|| ''All the Rivers in the World'' || 2019 || University of Washington, Tacoma, WA |- | thumb|| ''Path of Water / Percorso d'acqua'' || 2017 || Hermitage of San Bartolomeo, Legio, Abruzzo, Italy |- | thumb|| ''Mossuments'' || 2013 || Jordan Woods Natural Area, Beaverton OR |- | thumb|| ''Metropolis'' || 2012 || Seattle Center, Seattle, WA; Seattle Center Foundation |- | thumb|| ''Again, Life Becomes a River'' || 2007 || Kamiyama, Japan |}
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == *{{official website|http://www.vaughnbell.net/}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Vaughn}} Category:1978 births Category:Living people Category:American installation artists Category:Artists from Syracuse, New York Category:American women installation artists Category:American women performance artists Category:American performance artists Category:American women video artists Category:American video artists Category:American environmental artists Category:Sculptors from New York (state) Category:21st-century American women sculptors Category:21st-century American sculptors