First published: December 2025
Philadelphia’s Queen Nancy Bell ascended from a life of hardship to triumph with her divinely inspired, joyous paintings – and now she wants to expand her realm.
“I was a young queen at my birth, and I’m still a young queen, ” says artist Queen Nancy Bell. Born in 1961, in Philadelphia, PA – where she has lived ever since – she has had a difficult, sometimes precarious life. Despite this, she expresses joy and unwavering faith in God through her painting. Bell’s bright, mostly abstract artworks exude energy and entice the viewer’s eye, but their meanings remain obscure. By way of explanation, she says, “I get a vibe. I ease myself and meditate. As I meditate on God, everything comes down from heaven, right down on that paper.”
Queen Nancy Bell at the opening of her solo exhibition at Tiger Strikes Asteroid in 2024
Untitled (Jesus,es), c. 2018, acrylic and ink on paper, 11 x 14 in. / 28 x 35.5 cm
By EMILY B SCHILLING
This is an article extract; read the full article in Raw Vision 125.
