Americans for the Arts

Maria Bell currently serves as Head Writer and Executive Producer for the daytime drama, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS. Bell grew up in Newport Beach, California.  She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History from Northwestern University.  She grew up in a fashion family, her father was CEO of Marshall Field and Chairman of Neiman Marcus and she initially pursued a career in fashion before finding her home writing for television. She worked as a fashion designer for a major Los Angeles based garment manufacturer on lines such as Young Edwardian, Arpeja of California, and CitaMia.  In 1988 she began as a fashion consultant for The Bold and The Beautiful and became a fulltime writer. She has since written humorous essays for such publications as T, The Style Section Magazine of the New York Times, C Magazine, Aspen Magazine, Aspen Peak Magazine, LA Confidential Magazine and many others.

Bell serves on the board of many arts-related nonprofits including Americans for the Arts, where she helped raise over five million dollars to further the arts in America. She is the chair of the organization’s “National Arts Awards.” She has been on the board of P.S. Arts for eight years which provides arts education to nearly 14,000 children in California Title One public schools. She has been chair of that board for the last four years and is now its president. In addition, Bell sits on the board of The Museum of Contemporary Arts Los Angeles, the Dicapo Opera Theater, New York, and the Center Dance Arts Los Angeles, where she has served since 2007. She is now the co-chair of the board of MOCA and the chair of last November’s MOCA Artists Museum Happening. Bell serves on many arts committees including chairing the Acquisitions Committee of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. She sits on the Education Committee of the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the National Council of the Hirshhorn Museum of Washington, D.C. and she is a member of The Everychild Foundation, Aviva Platinum Associates, The National Council of the Aspen Art Museum where she served on the board for eight years and was the founding chair of their fundraiser ArtCrush.

She is a state commissioner, appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on the Commission for the Status of Women for the state of California. This committee advises the legislature on issues that effect women and girls. She was recognized by Governor Schwarzenegger for her work in raising the awareness of the importance of arts education in elementary education and he credited Ms. Bell for drawing attention to the cause which resulted in an unprecedented allocation of funding to California public schools to further the arts. Bell currently resides in Bel Air, Los Angeles with her husband William J. Bell Jr who serves on the board of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and is a leading arts philanthropist and art collector. She has two children and is a Girl Scout Leader with the Girl Scouts of America.