TU officer shocked after artwork chosen for popular DC exhibit

NORTH PHILADELPHIA - The artwork of a Temple University Department of Public Safety employee is on display at the National Law enforcement Officers Museum in Washington D.C.

Bryan Cottrell, 49, is a retired Deputy Chief from the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office and now works as an accreditation manager at Temple.

"I’m really excited and quite frankly I was surprised and shocked that I was selected," said Cottrell.

His pencil drawing titled "Honor" is one of 50 works of art by active and retired law enforcement chosen for display in the exhibit "Officers as Artists: The Creative Expression of Those Who Serve."

Cottrell said his drawing is based off a photo he took during his college photography class.

"It’s a picture of a tattered flag, leaning against a tombstone in an old cemetery and it’s very symbolic for me," said Cottrell. "I really have a sense of patriotism with my father being a veteran, as well as being in law-enforcement and being very, very active in the first responder community. It truly honors, in my mind, the sacrifices of military, law enforcement and all our first responders."

Deputy Director Lauren Sydney of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund said the museum received over 170 entries. She said Cottrell’s piece speaks to the beauty of sacrifice in the line of duty.

"A big part of what our organization does is discuss and highlight and try to remember those who have fallen in the line of duty and so it was a really great way to incorporate that into the exhibit," said Sydney. "This one, I thought was a really beautiful way to pull in those experiences of the officers that are still serving and the many colleagues that many of them have lost."

The museum describes the exhibit as a display that celebrates the creative expression and transformative power of art by law enforcement officers. It goes on to further explain how art has been instrumental for these artists navigating a complex profession that can be filled with traumatic experiences.

"The artwork of the other officers that were selected was unreal. It was amazing," said Cottrell. "To have my artwork up against the wall and displayed along with them is quite an honor."

Cottrell said he began his career as a probation officer in the late 1990s, went to the police academy in 2000 and started his career in the Division of Criminal Justice with the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office. He spent a majority of his career at the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office working in many units including Homicide, Special Victims, Shooting Response and Internal Affairs.

The Officers as Artists exhibit is on display at the DuPont Gallery in Washington D.C. through August 2025.