Biography

Margaret “Peggy” Polson was born in Roanoke, Virginia on March 31st, 1931 to Ruth and Robert Polson. She and her sister Marion spent much of their youth in Ithaca, New York after their father became a professor of rural sociology at Cornell University. In 1951, Polson completed an Associates of Arts degree at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri. She then received a Masters of Science from Cornell University in 1956. Her thesis, “Three Types of Design Experimentation Involving Proportion as Related to Tall Girl Dress”, was based on her struggle to find ready made clothing for tall women in the 1940’s and 1950’s. While at Cornell she studied abroad at Silliman University in the Philippines and took her first teaching position at the same institution. Polson came to Iowa to teach at the Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa in 1956. She then came to the State University of Iowa, now the University of Iowa, to study under artist and printer, Virginia Myers. She graduated in 1961 with a Master’s in Fine Arts. Her new position took her back to New York, where she stayed until 1966 teaching at Cornell University and the State University College in Plattsburgh. In 1971, she took a position teaching art at the Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. While teaching there she received a Doctorate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1974. Polson continued to teach at the Appalachian State University until she retired in 1993.

Polson was also an avid artist and photographer. Her work was displayed North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, New York, and Iowa. She experimented with a wide variety of mediums and styles. Pencil, acrylic, intaglio, foil, and ink. Most of her works revolved around nature, often inspired by the photographs she took. Her art also took inspiration from her travels. While at the Appalachian State University, Polson took a trip to China to prepare her for teaching an Asian art class, which started her interest in landscapes. In 2000 she decided to move back to Iowa City to spend her retirement at Oaknoll Retirement Residence. Polson continued her art activities and travels. She was active in a group of Iowa City women artists called Art Mix and participated in several displays at her retirement home, one called the “The Twelve Women of Oaknoll”. She also booked over twenty trips to see the United States and other countries. Many of her trips were through the Hancher Auditorium at the University of Iowa to see various theatrical works, but plenty of others saw her traveling to famous landmarks around the globe.

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