Victor Bell loves dogs, especially rescue dogs and the unconditional love we receive from them. Victor also loves his community and so, together, the idea for Princeton’s dogoyles was born.
Dogs bring us together as a pack in the same way that tasty food and fun bring us together as a community. That feeling of protection from your pack’s love is what Victor’s sculptures are all about. Victor builds these ceramic dogoyles – a magical mix of dog, dragon, and gargoyle – especially for specific locations throughout our community. These establishments are small businesses and neighborhood fixtures which already bring their own magic to town.
Each of Victor’s dogoyles will feature a QR code on their label linking visitors to SAVE, our local animal shelter, helping Victor give back to rescue dogs and hoping others will discover this unconditional love.
The dogoyles will be on display in participating locations in late May 2025 through mid-September.
This project would not be possible without the support of Timothy M. Andrews, longtime supporter of the Arts Council of Princeton, who has generously underwritten the Anne Reeves Artist-in-Residence program.
About Victor Bell:
Having grown up in Princeton, I was lucky enough to experience the magic of the Arts Council and the community from an early age. My parents were both inspirational to me in their passions for creation, from my artist mother and my inventor father. I graduated from Rowan University in 2019 with a Bachelor of Science in MIS. During my last semester, I took one ceramics class but did not plan on ever doing it again. I work for my family’s small business and until recently, I did not consider myself to be much of an artist.
About 3 years, ago I got my hands back into clay and I am so grateful. I started taking beginner ceramics classes at the Arts Council where I found a passion for sculpting dogs. After getting a solid foundation of skills, I started practicing at a studio in New York City on 46th and 10th called Mud Matters. Early on, my goal was to somehow have my clay sculptures help rescue dogs.
Why dogs? In 2018, my family rescued two dogs and they changed our lives. The unconditional love that a dog teaches us is truly otherworldly. This feeling of spiritual protection is what I am trying to capture in my sculptures. Similar to how a gargoyle protects a space by scaring off bad spirits, my gargoyle-esque creatures bring forth the same feeling of safety which a dog provides.
The art serves functionally as a vessel for love. The feeling when you look at a dog and your emotions overflow you can put into these forms. Through creating with my own emotions for my dogs, my hope is these whimsical beasts can inspire others to create with their hands, hearts, and minds.
By placing them throughout the community, I wish to remind people that while we are all different, we share the same feelings of love. These shared experiences are important to celebrate and are what will bring us all closer together. This is my reason for creating, enjoy!
About the Anne Reeves Artist-in-Residence Program:
The Anne Reeves Artist-in-Residence Program, named after ACP Founding Director, was established by the Arts Council in 2009 to offer artists the opportunity to conceptualize and create work while providing the community with creative interaction with working artists in all disciplines.