About Polly Alice

Polly Alice McCann is the Executive Director of Creative Spark Gallery on Englewood Row in Independence, Missouri. Artist, poet, author and speaker, she has shown art internationally crediting much of her creative work to her master’s thesis on the subconscious creative process, which won her an Ernest Hartmann Award. Her Creative Spark workshops inspire artists and writers to get to the next level in their creative work. Polly's clients have won awards like Top 100 Books of the Year, National Children's Book Awards, KC Fringe Fest, grants, and debuted new art and retrospectives. She writes for art and artists.She says, "Creativity is a daily act of courage that requires us to listen to each other, to share our stories, and to dream big."

Polly's paintings have been published in US newspapers and magazines, most recently Rattle Magazine, and have shown internationally from Santa Monica to the Netherlands; collected by buyers on four continents. She is the editor of three international poetry anthologies and countless poetry collections. A professor of poetry and art, her favorite thing is to tell stories. She was honored to be the Missouri Arts Council's artist of the month for July 2025. Her sixth book of poetry comes out this year with Spartan Press. 

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