biography of Polly Scribner AMES (1908-1993)

Birth place: Chicago, IL

Addresses: NYC, 1947; Chicago, IL, 1950s-1973

Profession: Painter, sculptor, teacher

Studied: Univ. Chicago; AIC; scholar Chicago Sch. Sculpture; also with Jose de Creeft and Hans Hofmann, NYC; Dubac, in Switzerland; Hans Schwegerle, Munich, Ger.

Exhibited: Salons of Am.; Bonestell Gal., 1939; Puma Gal., 1943; Kalamazoo AI,1939; Eleanor Smith Gal., 1945; Creative A. Gal., 1943; Crosby Gal., Wash. D.C., 1946; S.Indp.A.; solo shows, Culture Ctr., Neth, W. Indies, 1947, Galerie Chardin, Paris, France, 1949, Cercle Univ., Aix-en-Provence, 1950 & Esher-Surrey Gallery, The Hague, Holland, 1950; also Closson Gallery, Cincinnati. Awards: Bronze award for Young Satyr and Friend, Ill. State Mus., 1962.

Member: Arts Club Chicago (Bd Dir, 1957-); Oriental Inst.; Chicago Quadrangle Club; Chicago Archeol. Inst.; Renaissance Soc., Univ. Chicago.

Work: Death mask drawing of Marsden Hartley, Univ. Minn. Gallery; bronze, Ill. State Mus.; portrait of singer Povla Frijsh, Town Hall, New York; five panel carving, Univ. Chicago High Sch.; oil painting, Quadrangle Club, Univ. Chicago. Commissions: wood carving, western Springs First Congregational Church, Ill., 1964; portraits of Geraldine Page, 1961, Mrs E. E. Cummings, 1968, Maureen Ting-Klein, comn. by Richard Klein, 1968 & Anne Rothnie, comn. by Brit. Consul Gen. Allen Rothnie, 1970.

Comments: Positions: instr art, City & Country Sch., New York, 1939-1942; instr life class, private studio, New York, 1939-1945; pvt. classes in oils, New York & Chicago, 1939-1968; Libr., Univ. Chicago, 1958-1959; Recording for Blind, 1958-; slide dept., publicity, AIC, 1964-1965. Lectures on Greece on educ. TV & to various clubs. Publications: auth, two articles, in: Progressive Educ Mag, 1941; auth. & illusr., Marsden Hartley in Maine, Univ Maine, 1972.

Sources: WW73; WW47; Marlor, Salons of Am.