American artist
Ita Aber
Born Ita Herschcovich
1932 (age 91–92)Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Education Empire State College Known for Textiles, conservation, curatorial
Ita Aber (
née Herschcovich; born 1932) is an American feminist multimedia
textile artist ,
art conservator and curator.
Early life and career
Ita Aber was born in
Montreal, Quebec , Canada as
Ita Herschcovich to Fannie (
née Zabitsky) and Tudick Hershcovich. Her grandparents were of German, Polish, Russian, and Romanian Bukhara ancestry.
[1]
Her first exposure to
feminism was by her grandmother, an early
suffragette in Canada, and her mother, who founded the Milk Fund of Canada.
[2] She took courses in Jewish history, archaeology, art and textile conservation at
Queen's College ,
Columbia University , the
Jewish Theological Seminary , and
New York University .
[3]
[4] She completed a bachelor's degree in Cultural Studies from
Empire State College
[3] and carried out graduate-level studies at
The Valentine Museum (Richmond, Virginia) ,
[4] and the
Metropolitan Museum of Art ,
[3] earning a master's degree equivalent in Jewish Art.
[2]
In 1964, Aber became politically active, specifically in the
Reform Democratic movement .
[2] Through her early political involvement, she sought to abolish laws in New York restricting
abortion .
[2] She helped found
Women Strike for Peace , and also became active in the
environmental movement , speaking out against the pollution in the
Hudson River .
[2] At this time, she also became active in
equal rights activism, minority and elder rights.
[2]
Aber was a founding member of the
New York Feminist Art Institute and the founder of the Pomegranate Guild of Judaic Needlework.
[2] Starting in 1972, she taught
needlework at the
Jewish Museum , the
Cooper-Hewitt Museum and other venues throughout the eastern United States.
[2]
Aber's artistic-related archives are held at the
Archives of American Art ,
[2]
[5] with other archival collections being held by the
National Museum of Women in the Arts .
[2] Her family's papers are held at Yeshiva University.
[6]
Exhibitions
2001: "55 Year Retrospective Exhibition", Broome Street Gallery
[7]
[8]
2007: "Ita B'Ita: Ita Aber in Her Time: 60 Years of Creativity and Innovation by Ita Aber",
Yeshiva University Museum
[9]
[10]
Bibliography
The art of Judaic needlework: traditional and contemporary designs , Scribner, 1979,
ISBN
978-0-684-16239-3 ;
Art of Judaic Needlepoint , Simon & Schuster, 1982,
ISBN
978-0-684-17684-0
Ita H. Aber, Frann S. Addison, Katya Apekina, Beverly Auerbach, Tradition today: modern Judaica and folk art , Jewish Arts Foundation, 1990
References
^
Ita Aber biography , iupui.libguides.com. Accessed September 27, 2022.
^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j Barbara J. Love (2006).
Feminists who changed America, 1963–1975 . University of Illinois Press. p. 2.
ISBN
978-0-252-03189-2 . Retrieved January 4, 2012 .
^
a
b
c McBee, Richard (November 8, 2011).
"Ita Aber: A Jewish Woman's Life in Art" . Jewish Art Salon.org . New York, NY: Jewish Art Salon. Retrieved October 23, 2019 .
^
a
b Heller, Jules; Heller, Nancy G. (1995).
North American Women Artists of the Twentieth Century: A Biographical Dictionary . New York, NY: Routledge. p. 6.
ISBN
978-1-1356-3882-5 – via
Google Books .
^ Archives of American Art.
"Summary of the Ita H. Aber papers, 1950–2007 – Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution" . si.edu .
^
Guide to the Aber Family Papers 1900–1992 , libfindaids.yu.edu. Accessed September 27, 2022.
^
"American Guild of Judaic Art" . jewishart.org . Retrieved September 27, 2022 .
^ McBee, Richard (January 21, 2001).
"Ita Aber: 55 Year Retrospective Exhibition" . The Jewish Press (review). Archived from
the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved July 11, 2011 – via author's website. richardmcbee.com.
^ "
Ita B'Ita: Ita Aber in Her Time 60 Years of Creativity and Innovation by Ita Aber ". June 24–October 14, 2007. Yeshiva University Museum. yumuseum.org. Retrieved January 31, 2018.
^ Bauer, Linda (August 17, 2007).
" '60 Years of Creativity by Ita Aber' at Yeshiva University Museum" . The Newtown Bee (Newtown, Connecticut). Retrieved January 31, 2018 .
External links
International National Other