Born in 1946 in Atlanta, Georgia, Polly Harrison dedicated over thirty years to
creating art from recycled materials. Throughout her lifetime, she continued to
investigate techniques that transformed society and industrial discards
in ways that gave the material the respect it deserved.
Her intention was always to bring attention to environmental and
conservation concerns for an Earth that suffers from dwindling natural resources,
industrial abuse, agricultural misuse, and a lack of human understanding.
She shared her talent for creating with
recycled materials with literally thousands of
elementary, and high school students, educators,
college and community groups through
Georgia Council for the Arts, and South Carolina
Arts Commission, Artists in Education Programs.
She lectured and taught in Visiting Artist Programs
with Partners of The Americas, Recife, Brazil,
US State Department; The City of Atlanta Bureau of
Cultural Affairs, Chastain Arts Center; Atlanta
Boys and Girls Clubs, Youth Art Connection;
The Fibre Arts Design Studio, Ojai, California,
and other museums, galleries and art centers
across the United States.
Her artwork has been exhibited throughout
the United States, traveled to eight countries
in Africa through Whatcom Museum,
Seattle, WA, "Trashformations".
Her exhibits have been at various museums and university galleries, and the Federal University
of Brazil included television and news publications
about her work. She was featured in the
Nikkei News, Japan, for her constructions of
oversized movable "Temple Blocks" made from
Japanese Newspaper.