Artist's Statement

I quilt because it ties things together. I quilt because it involves many processes: it is a form of collage and design and construction, it can incorporate painting and printmaking, it pulls together ideas, lays them out and stitches them together. I can capture nature in the photosensitive process of solar printing on fabric, incorporating a time and place in the natural world into my art. A quilt does not just have surface design, the quilting stitches add depth, design on design. I quilt because it took the place of oil painting for me when I became pregnant and did not wish to breathe toxic fumes, because when I stopped working as a professional computer graphics designer, quilting became an outlet for ideas. Making quilts ties me to a tradition, a tradition mostly female, of creating order out of scraps, out of necessity.

I quilt because it brings a tiny bit of order to my tiny bit of the world.

Education

1990 - Present
Continuing Education
Workshops with Linda Colsh, Lonni Rossi, Jan Myers-Newbury, Jane Dunnewold, Judy Langille, Carol Taylor, and others

1983
Philadelphia College of Art, Philadelphia, PA

1981
Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, PA
BA, Art

1980
Sir John Cass School of Art/London Guildhall University, London, England

Artist's Bibliography

2020
"Member Spotlight: Polly Bech", Surface Design Association blog, February 12

2019
"A Solar Printing Obsession”, Art Quilting Studio Magazine, Spring

2015
"Featured Artist”, Studio Art Quilt Associates, April

Affiliations

Gallery on Park, Swarthmore, PA
Studio Art Quilt Associates
Surface Design Association
Community Arts Center, Wallingford, PA
Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen (Haverford Guild), Haverford, PA

Selected Exhibitions

Solo‍

2010
Creative Living Room, Swarthmore, PA

2005
Newtown Library, Newtown Square, PA

Group‍

2021
Textiles in Translation, Williamsport, PA
Art Quilt Juried Exhibition

2020
Preserving the Legacy Quilt Exhibit, Swarthmore, PA

2019
Delaware County Studio Tour, Heron Crest Studios, Aston, PA
Abstract, Sebastopol, CA
National Juried Exhibition

Sacred Threads, Herndon, VA
National Juried Art Quilt Exhibition

New Work: Melissa Husted Sherman and Polly Dressler Bech, Swarthmore, PA

2018
The Hometown Collective Fine Craft & Art Sale, Media, PA

November Featured Artist, Gallery on Park, Swarthmore, PA

Material Matters, Brooklyn, NY
National Juried Art Exhibition

Responses to Gee’s Bend, Swarthmore, PA
National Juried Art Exhibition

Haverford Guild of Craftsmen Summer Fine Art & Craft Show, Rosemont, PA2

12th Annual Juried Art Exhibition, GoggleWorks, Reading, PA

2017
The Hometown Collective Fine Craft & Art Sale, Media, PA

Haverford Guild of Craftsmen Fine Art & Craft Show, Rosemont, PA

Interpretations: Conversations,San Diego, CA
National Juried Art Quilt Exhibition

Sacred Threads, Herndon, VA
National Juried Art Quilt Exhibition

2016
Haverford Guild of Craftsmen Fine Art & Craft Show, Newtown Square, PA

The Hometown Collective Fine Craft & Art Sale, Media, PA

Connected by Stitch, Williamsport, PA
Juried Art Quilt Exhibition

Lasting Impressions: Art Quilts 2016, Lowell, MA
National Juried Exhibition

2015
The Hometown Collective Fine Craft & Art Sale, Media, PA

Sacred Threads, Herndon, VA
National Juried Art Quilt Exhibition

Lancaster County Art Association National Juried Exhibition, Strasburg, PA

focus – exploring our regional sense of place, Montrose, PA
Fiber Award

2014
The Hometown Collective Fine Craft & Art Sale, Media, PA

Quilt & Fiber Arts Festival, La Conner, WA
International Juried Exhibition

New Legacies: Contemporary Art Quilts(National Juried Exhibition), Ft. Collins, CO

Tri-State Quilt Competition, The Quilt Fest of New Jersey X, Somerset, NJ

2013
The Hometown Collective Fine Craft & Art Sale, Media, PA

Alumni Art Exhibition, Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, PA

2012
The Hometown Collective Fine Craft & Art Sale, Media, PA

Hands All Around, Houston, TX
National Juried Art Quilt Exhibition

2011
Interpretations 2011, San Diego, CA
National Juried Art Quilt Exhibition

Focus on Color, Fredericksburg, VA
National Juried Art Quilt Exhibition

Lancaster County Art Association National Juried Exhibition, Strasburg, PA

2010
Quilt Visions 2010: No Boundaries, San Diego, CA
National Art Quilt Juried Exhibition

Innovations in Fiberart V, Sebastopol, CA
National Juried Fiber Art Exhibition

The May Show, Gualala, CA
National Juried Exhibition

2009
Community Arts Center Fine Arts & Crafts Festival, Media, PA

Art Quilts Lowell 2009, Lowell, MA
National Juried Exhibition

SAQA: Musings, Grand Rapids, MI
National Juried Art Quilt Exhibition

National Fiber Directions Exhibition 2009, Wichita, KS
Juried Exhibition

Recent Work: Melissa Husted-Sherman & Polly Dressler Bech Swarthmore, PA

2008
PA National Quilt Extravaganza XV, Harrisburg, PA
National Juried Exhibition

SAQA Amazing Art Quilts, Staunton, VA
National Juried Exhibition

I-4 Corridor: Stretching Threads Across Florida, Orlando, FL
National Juried Exhibition

2007
PA National Quilt Extravaganza XIV, Harrisburg, PA
National Juried Exhibition

New Art from an American Tradition, Williamsburg, VA
National Juried Art Quilt Exhibition

2006
Surface Tension: Contemporary Quilt Art, Union, NJ
National Juried Exhibition

Expressions: The Art Quilt, La Veta, CO
National Juried Exhibition

FAVA: Artist as Quiltmaker XII, Oberlin, OH
National Juried Exhibition

2005
Undercover Quilters Show, Brookhaven, PA

PA National Quilt Extravaganza XII, Quilts of the Delaware Valley, Ft. Washington, PA

2004
Friends of the Arts 2-Person Show, Swarthmore, PA

2000
DCCC Annual Art Show for County Residents, Media, PA
Juried Exhibition

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