Catherine Bell Smith

Catherine Bell Smith (Columbus, Ohio) is an environmental artist noted for her innovative process of creating nature mosaics from bark and seedpods and her large-scale installations involving leaves, pods, and tumbleweeds. Seeking to draw attention to ecological issues, her work invites a new or renewed dialog with the natural world by bringing nature’s elements into an interior setting. Breaking through the boundaries of tradition, Bell Smith’s inclusion of recycled plastics interwoven with natural materials illustrates how purposeful awareness may lead to a deeper understanding of how we can work with rather than conquer the natural world.

Bell Smith co-directed “Sign Your Art,” a street art project which can be found at the Google Cultural Institute and developed the community event, Columbus Open Studio & Stage. Her local business, Arlington Frames, is a 30-year entrepreneurial success. While she maintains a small, home-based studio for painting and drawing, Bell Smith creates most of her work in her space at Blockfort Studios and Gallery in Columbus.