Exhibition Guide
Kelley Bell. Fantastic Village. 2025. In process photo. Courtesy of the artist. © Kelley Bell
Fantastic Village
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Art Object Info
Recalling the geometries of playgrounds, Fantastic Village suggests communities are brilliant, ever-changing modular systems where we play out our lives. Inspired by artist Kelley Bell’s own playground memories, Fantastic Village is a tribute to Virginia Dortch Dorazio (1925—2010). In 1953, Dorazio submitted a series of cubic concrete rooms perforated by circular portholes and blobby doorways to a playground-design contest. Her design was selected, built, and placed in parks nationwide.
Fantastic Village invokes Bell’s memories of Dorazio’s now-demolished work in the city playgrounds of the artist’s hometown of Washington, D.C., and the iconic rowhomes of Baltimore. It also suggests the saltbox houses of a seaside town, a cluster of earthen homes, or any community where people live and dream together. Colorful light plays across and through the faces of these structures as our collective hopes, disappointments, joys and sorrows play out publicly and privately in the places we live.
Bell is an artist, designer, and educator who lives in Baltimore. She received a B.F.A. from the Pratt Institute and an M.F.A. in Imaging and Digital Arts from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, where she is currently an Associate Professor of Visual Arts. Bell’s connection to the region continues through regular presentations of her work at festivals, galleries, public facades, and in the Baltimore Harbor.
Fantastic Village
Recalling the geometries of playgrounds, Fantastic Village suggests communities are brilliant, ever-changing modular systems where we play out our lives. Inspired by artist Kelley Bell’s own playground memories, Fantastic Village is a tribute to Virginia Dortch Dorazio (1925—2010). In 1953, Dorazio submitted a series of cubic concrete rooms perforated by circular portholes and blobby doorways to a playground-design contest. Her design was selected, built, and placed in parks nationwide.
Fantastic Village invokes Bell’s memories of Dorazio’s now-demolished work in the city playgrounds of the artist’s hometown of Washington, D.C., and the iconic rowhomes of Baltimore. It also suggests the saltbox houses of a seaside town, a cluster of earthen homes, or any community where people live and dream together. Colorful light plays across and through the faces of these structures as our collective hopes, disappointments, joys and sorrows play out publicly and privately in the places we live.
Bell is an artist, designer, and educator who lives in Baltimore. She received a B.F.A. from the Pratt Institute and an M.F.A. in Imaging and Digital Arts from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, where she is currently an Associate Professor of Visual Arts. Bell’s connection to the region continues through regular presentations of her work at festivals, galleries, public facades, and in the Baltimore Harbor.