Beyond Spectatorship

Maria Arena Bell has been named the chair of the LA28 Cultural Olympiad. The Emmy award-winning producer’s new role will highlight her native Los Angeles’ artistic spirit, concurrent with the 2028 Summer Olympics and Paralympics.

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Raised in Newport Beach, Bell has dedicated herself to supporting the arts throughout her greater community. She has amassed a notable art collection of her own and spent her career in leadership roles at P.S. ARTS, the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Commission, among others. Her experience also spans television, including her work as a producer and writer on The Young and the Restless from 2007 until 2012. “The entertainment industry is built by artists and innovators in every way,” Bell tells Family Style. “They don’t always see themselves as artists, but they should.”

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Tasked with this monumental opportunity, Bell looks to the Olympic Games of 1984 that occurred in Los Angeles and how it shaped events in the city since. The LA Opera, for example, is a pivotal achievement of the previous Olympiad board she cites as inspiration. 

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With her new appointment Bell  aims to develop events that connect residents and non-residents alike, including an array of performance, fashion, culinary, theater, music, and visual arts experiences, as well as partnerships with Los Angeles cultural centers. “We really want the entire city to be activated with cultural programming, not only during the Olympics and Paralympics but in the lead up to the games and in lasting ways,” she says. 

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The 2028 Summer Olympics will be held in Los Angeles beginning on July 14th, 2028.