ABINGTON, Pa. — A body of art created by recent Penn State Abington graduate Sophie Bell received the campus' annual Thomas R. and Eileen Walton Smith Award for Achievement in the Arts and Humanities. The seven mixed media pieces that form "Another Kind of Mourning" powerfully examine the complex emotional and aesthetic relationship between human and animal life through their ritualistic behaviors, according to the judges.

The selection committee hailed “the artist’s commitment to chosen themes (death, mourning, memorialization, and so on), the narrative consistency of the various pieces, the masterful execution of the work, and the enormous challenge of envisioning and completing the work for an exhibition. Above all, the committee recognized in this body of work a distinct point of view and aesthetic style – something quite uncommon to see so clearly in such a young artist.”

Thomas R. Smith, retired division head for arts and humanities and the award's benefactor, said Bell’s representations of animal mourning rituals encourage viewers to think more deeply about animals and their emotions.

“Sophie has made vivid aspects of animals' experience that we share with them — grief and the need for rituals to deal with feelings of loss. She has well visualized our culture's growing recognition of the depth of animals' consciousness,” he said. “Because of its thoughtfulness and the skill with which it has been produced, I am very happy that Sophie's work has been honored with the Smith award.”

According to Daniel Oliva, the art faculty member who nominated Bell, her drive, skill and commitment are something he hasn’t seen in years.

“Sophie has delved into the topic with rigorous research as she includes accurate representations of the flora and fauna surrounding her subjects in each painting,” he said of Bell, the recipient of multiple awards for drawing and painting. “The entire series was made the previous semester, and the ambition of this accomplishment cannot be understated as most art students complete no more than three or four serious paintings each semester.”

Bell said her goal was to “dismantle the belief that grief is exclusively human and restore dignity to creatures whose emotional worlds are often dismissed. ... Choosing animals from across the world including lesser known, emotionally underestimated and endangered animals was crucial in highlighting diversity and the fragility of the nonhuman world.”

"Another Kind of Mourning" was exhibited in one of the Woodland Building galleries for six weeks last semester. The campus community turned out in force for Bell's artist talk as she explained the ecological aspects of her work, her decision-making process and how her research informed the series.

Bell graduated last semester with a degree in art. During her time on campus, she embraced the hallmarks of the Abington Experience through rigorous research, professional exhibition experience and leadership in developing and presenting her creative work. She has received multiple awards for excellence in drawing and painting.

As a Schreyer Honors College scholar, Bell demonstrated leadership by independently conceiving, managing and completing an ambitious exhibition-scale project while sharing her findings and artistic vision with the campus community.

The works nominated for the 2026 Smith Award were completed in courses in English, writing, dance and film. The annual award recognizes exceptional achievement in creative or critical work, like a critical essay or research project; an artistic production in dance, film, music, theater; visual arts; or in an artistic form accepted as professionally credible by a liberal arts, fine arts or humanities discipline.

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