Stephen Francis (Steve) Poleskie was an artist, aerobatic pilot, writer, and photographer. Poleskie was born in Pringle, Pennsylvania on June 3, 1938. Though he had no formal art education, he learned art on his own and had his first one-person exhibition in 1958. He graduated from Wilkes University with a degree in Economics in 1959. Over the next few years, Poleskie traveled extensively and explored several different arts jobs before moving to New York City in 1962 and opening a screenprinting studio in 1963. This studio, Chiron Press, was one of the earliest dedicated to art screenprinting and was a locus for the Pop Art movement, printing the works of many famous artists of the era such as Roy Liechtenstein, James Rosenquist, and Andy Warhol.

In 1968 Poleskie sold Chiron Press and took a teaching position in Cornell University’s Department of Art. During this time, he also learned to fly and became an aerobatic pilot. While his earlier art took the form of sculpture, paintings, and prints, through his aerobatics he developed an art form he called Aerial Theater. This involved making designs in the sky with smoke emitted from his plane as he flew, and often incorporated additional music and dance performances on the ground.

Throughout his career, Poleskie performed and exhibited his work throughout the United States and internationally. As part of U.S. cultural initiatives in the 1960s and 1970s to highlight the work of American artists, Poleskie’s pieces were among those selected to hang in the U.S. Department of State’s diplomatic facilities, and in 1979 he was sent to visit the then-U.S.S.R. as part of a cultural exchange program. He exhibited, performed, and taught in many other countries; his papers include correspondence and exhibition materials relating to his experiences in Germany, Italy, Poland, the United Kingdom, and the former U.S.S.R. and then-Yugoslavia.

Poleskie ceased flying and sold his planes in 1998. While undertaking his artistic work he had continued to teach classes at Cornell for 32 years, attaining the rank of full Professor. He retired in 2000 and became Professor Emeritus of Art.

After retirement, Poleskie remained in Ithaca, New York and joined his wife, author Jeanne Macklin, in creative writing. He also took up digital photography and exhibited his work in local venues. Additionally, he maintained his own website at https://www.stephenpoleskie.com. Poleskie passed away in 2019 at age 81.