POLLY BURGE was born in Virginia, went to college in North Carolina, and after working a 2012 summer job wrangling horses and guiding dudes at Eatons’ Ranch outside of Sheridan, Wyoming, it suddenly felt more like home than anywhere else. Polly fell in love with the landscape, horse culture, and the people she met in the western states.

Working various jobs that have enabled her to maximize time outdoors among her dogs and horses polly began teaching riding and horsemanship, schooling green horses, exercising polo ponies, and helping to guide pack trips, fly-fishing, and camping excursions throughout Northern Wyoming, Southern Montana, and Arizona. In 2016, Polly began integrating an art practice into the slower colder months of the calendar, triggering the start of a whole hearted creative career that has evolved over a full ten years, from drawing and painting into teaching and mentoring fellow adult artists. A passionate traveler, horse cultures domestic and abroad have come to be the clearest influences in Polly's creative output in recent years. Find images of local polo culture and traditional horse-packing and outfitting scenes, as well as reflections from Cabalgata experiences in northern Argentina, guided by the gauchos of the Salta province.

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Polly served from 2019-2026 as a board member of SAGE Community Arts with a personal mission to expand membership, integrate arts appreciation programming, and establish an endowment (2021). Polly was recognized as one of Sheridan's influential young people in 2018 by The Sheridan Press presentation of 20 Under 40, and graduated as part of the Leadership Wyoming Class of 2022. In 2024, Polly began a development project to build out The Landmark Lofts, an old warehouse space converted into what are now professional suites and personal studio space.

Spring 2026, Polly was invited by the Ucross Foundation to participate in a special 8-week project as a US host artist representative working in collaboration with EU resident artist and comic novelist, Bim Eriksson (Stockholm, Sweden). Together, Polly and Bim were one of five artist pairings that composed the inaugural cohort of the Transatlantic Stars, a diplomacy enterprise directed by the European Union Delegation in the US. The project culminated in June in Washington. D.C., unveiling the group exhibition that will travel for three years throughout the US and the EU.

Polly’s available originals can be discovered alongside any recent works via @polly_paint_and_pencil on Instagram, where you may also find out more about developing themes, recent oversized paintings, chat with Polly, and organize a studio visit. Stationery and prints can be purchased at the Polly, Paint & Pencil Studio Etsy Store. Stand by for more information about Polly's confirmed August 2028 Solo Exhibition at SAGE Community Arts Exhibition Gallery.

 

POLLY, PAINT & PENCIL STUDIO

28 E Brundage Street STE 203

Sheridan, WYO