Why Maria Arena Bell Is Not Returning to Y&R — For Now

Maria Arena Bell, former head writer and executive producer of Young and the Restless, the serial created by her late in-laws, William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell, has a new gig that’s going to keep her pretty occupied. The Daytime Emmy winner has been named chair of the Cultural Olympiad for the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

For Whom the Bell Tolls

According to the Los Angeles Times, the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games on Thursday named former MOCA board chair and Emmy-winning TV writer-producer Maria Arena Bell as chair of the Cultural Olympiad.

The program, which has been a part of the Olympic Games for over 100 years, attempts to put a focus on each host city’s (according to the LA Times) “artistic and cultural offerings through performances, exhibitions, workshops, installations and educational activities beginning a year before the Games and culminating with the summer proceedings.”

“I think it’s the world’s cultural capital,” Arena Bell said to the paper in a telephone interview. “It’s so important that we see ourselves as a city of artists and know that the culture of our arts is what binds us together.”

Arena Bell Bell served as Y&R’s executive producer and head writer from about 2008 to 2012. During her tenure, Bell resurrected Phillip Chancellor III (Thom Bierdz) and brought back Katherine Chancellor’s doppelganger Marge (both played by Jeanne Cooper). She also introduced Victor’s (Eric Braeden) ill-fated bride Sabrina (Raya Meddine) to the canvas and brought Ashley (Eileen Davidson) back to Genoa City following Sabrina’s death.

Arena Bell is also known world via her association with the Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Commission and as MOCA’s (the Museum of Contemporary Art) board co-chair from 2009 to 2014. Additionally, Bell chaired and also served as president of P.S. Arts from 2003 to 2013. The organization brought arts to Title 1 elementary schools in Los Angeles County and the Central Valley.

Maria Arena Bell led her Y&R writers to a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series Writing Team in 2011. She produced The Warhol Effect, a documentary, which appeared on Sky Arts earlier this year. (Between her documentary and artistic endeavors, the scribe likely doesn’t have time right now to write soap operas — for now.)

“My plan is to meet with artists and arts organizations of every size and to really connect with people and hear what they have to say,” Arena Bell said. “It’s our Olympiad for the whole city, and it should feel very, very inclusive. We don’t want to stand in people’s way. We want to partner with them and assist, if we can.”