Victor E. Bell
Work Details
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Dogoyles of Jersey City
I am proud to announce that I have received an Individual Artist Grant from the Jersey City Arts Council to bring my Dogoyle Public Art Project to Jersey City.
The purpose of this project is to identify and celebrate the love that connects us all. Pet owners share a bond of devotion akin to that of regulars of a community fixture. Establishments that foster the connection of shared joy create the identity of a neighborhood.
Each sculpture in the new series will feature a hand-sculpted ceramic Threshold Guardian, sitting atop a miniature architectural ceramic rendering of its host location. Every piece will be inspired by a real pet connected to the place the sculpture was made for and gifted, at no cost, permanently to its host.
The first sculpture in the series, pictured here, is currently in production. The in-progress artwork, yet to be painted, is an architectural hand-built clay sculpture of my first apartment in Jersey City, 2 Webster Avenue in the Heights, home of Àbákẹ́ Books and Café. The meaning of Àbákẹ́ is “To Be Loved”, a fitting title for this work.
The piece features Honey, a neighborhood rescue dog and regular visitor to Àbákẹ́, as a Dogoyle with a book in hand instead of an olive branch. On the overhang two brooding pigeons, our forgotten pets, grace the building with their love. Curled up on the doorstep is the 1lb, 6 week old kitten I found while I lived in this building.
Individuals who create a better reality for an area through their actions are defined by the space their love occupies. This project calls for consciousness of the connection each of us shares with all those we’ve never met across our city and in every city.
This project is supported by the Jersey City Arts Council and the Jersey City Arts & Culture Trust Fund.
Artist Bio
Victor E. Bell (b. 1997) is a New Jersey-based sculptor, a 2026 Jersey City Individual Artist Fellow, and the creator of the Dogoyle. By blending the forms of dogs, dragons, and gargoyles, Bell captures the otherworldly sense of safety provided by a loyal companion. As the 2025 Anne Reeves Artist-in-Residence, Victor brought his sculptures out of the studio and into the public heart of Princeton, with site-specific installations at 12 local community fixtures including, Small World Coffee and the Princeton Public Library. Since moving to Jersey City in May 2025, Bell has proudly worked at Project Studios a Hudson County based artist collective which provides a community of highly-skilled artists and creators affordable, well equipped studio space. As a 2026 Jersey City Individual Artist Fellow, Bell is currently focused on expanding the Dogoyle project into the neighborhoods of Jersey City. This new phase of the project involves developing site-specific installations that celebrate the city’s architecture. By placing Dogoyles in high-traffic civic spaces, he continues to explore how public art can serve as a functional guardian for the community, fostering a sense of shared belonging and protection in the modern environment.
Mediums
Sculpture, Ceramics & Pottery, Installation & Public Art, N/A