“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.”
Victor E. Bell
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.
Artist Statement
When an opportunity to be a resident artist at my local arts council arose, I made a choice to pivot from my life where I never felt capable of creating art, towards planning a town-wide project which raised awareness for rescue animals through sculpting over a dozen Dogoyles; caricatures of the larger than life love I have found in my own rescue dogs. I capture that magic in joyful expressions, playful poses, horns, wings, and colors no earthly dog dons. These forms of my imagination are functional threshold guardians, protectors of spirit, and reminders of the love which surrounds us everywhere we go. This is why I choose to place the art in community spaces: in the same way pet owners love their “pack”, the regulars of institutions who foster the bonds of the neighborhood are tied together by their love of tasty food, inquisitive reading, or exciting movies. Dogoyles interact with a representation of their host, lying on top of a bucket of popcorn, popping out of an open book or resting on a miniature storefront. My work is a vessel for love, inspired by shared experiences, the identity of spaces and the animals and people who belong within.
Featured Press
Victor Bell: Sharing Joy
“He thought of the places where we go to seek out our pack – the coffee shops, the small markets, the cinemas and clubs where we meet our friends – and he envisioned placing these works there to remind people about the unconditional love to which dogs inspire us.”
“Dogoyles” Around Town
“I think the important thing that I’m trying to capture is the joy of creating, and the joy that a dog can inspire in you. When you see a dog, it inspires a feeling of love ”
Victor Bell brings the dog days to the Arts Council of Princeton
“This natural connection between dogs and people is what he hopes to reflect in his sculptures. More than just playful figures, his Dogoyles embody the way dogs try to communicate with us, forming a bond that is both instinctual and deeply emotional.”
Artist Victor E. Bell Celebrates Rescue Dogs
“Bell loves dogs — especially rescue dogs — and the unconditional love we receive from them. He also loves his Princeton community, and so the idea for “dogoyles” — a magical mix of dog, dragon, and gargoyle — was born.”
