Frederick Polley, born August 15, 1875 in Union City, Indiana, studied under William Forsyth at the John Herron Art Institute, under James R. Hopkins in Provincetown, Massachusetts and at the Corcoran Art School where he studied etching and simultaneously worked as a government mapmaker in Washington, D.C. A New York publisher noticed his work and he began to do illustrations for magazines.
In 1914 Polley returned to Indiana, settled in Indianapolis where he became the city’s only professional etcher, taught graphic design at Arsenal Technical High School and submitted stories and sketches to the Indianapolis Star to supplement his income. He made several trips to the Peaceful Valley in Brown County, Indiana, which provided numerous subjects for sketches and stories for his Sunday feature in the Star.In 1923 Polley was commissioned by the state of Pennsylvania to etch the buildings of old Germantown. He won prizes at the Hoosier Salon in 1942 and 1943, the Indiana Art Club in 1939, 1943, and 1945, the Herron Art Institute in 1934 and the New Orleans Art League in 1943.
Member: the Indiana Artists Club, the Chicago Galleries Association, the Salmagundi Club of New York City, the Chicago Society of Etchers and the Brown County Art Gallery Association.
Exhibited: Carnegie Institute, the Society of Etchers in
Brooklyn and Philadelphia, and at the Library of Congress.
Frederick Polley died in Brown County on September 9, 1957.