Ita Aber ( Hershcovich; March 27, 1932 – April 17, 2025) was a Canadian-born American feminist multimedia

textile artist Textile arts are arts and crafts that use plant, animal, or synthetic fibers to construct practical or decorative objects. Textiles have been a fundamental part of human life since the beginning of civilization. The methods and materials use ...

, art conservator, and curator.

Life and career

Ita Aber was born in

Montreal, Quebec Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Canada as Ita Hershcovich to Fannie ( Zabitsky) and Tudick Hershcovich. Her grandparents were of German, Polish, Russian, and Romanian Bukhara ancestry. Her first exposure to

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

was by her grandmother, an early

suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

in Canada, and her mother, who founded the Milk Fund of Canada. She took courses in

Jewish history Jewish history is the history of the Jews, their Jewish peoplehood, nation, Judaism, religion, and Jewish culture, culture, as it developed and interacted with other peoples, religions and cultures. Jews originated from the Israelites and H ...

, archaeology, art, and textile conservation at Queen's College,

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, the Jewish Theological Seminary, and

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. She completed a bachelor's degree in Cultural Studies from

Empire State College Empire State University (SUNY Empire) is a public university headquartered in Saratoga Springs, New York. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. Empire State University is a multi-site institution offering associate degre ...

and carried out graduate-level studies at The Valentine Museum (Richmond, Virginia), and the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

, earning a master's degree equivalent in Jewish Art. In 1964, Aber became politically active, specifically in the Reform Democratic movement. Through her early political involvement, she sought to abolish laws in New York restricting

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

. She helped found

Women Strike for Peace Women Strike for Peace (WSP, also known as Women for Peace) was a women's peace activist group in the United States. Nearing the height of the Cold War in 1961, about 50,000 women marched in 60 cities around the United States to demonstrate again ...

, and also became active in the

environmental movement The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement) is a social movement that aims to protect the natural world from harmful environmental practices in order to create sustainable living. In its recognition of humanity a ...

, speaking out against the pollution in the

Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

. At this time, she also became active in equal rights activism, and minority and elder rights. Aber was a founding member of the

New York Feminist Art Institute New York Feminist Art Institute (NYFAI) was founded in 1979 (to 1990) by women artists, educators and professionals. NYFAI offered workshops and classes, held performances and exhibitions and special events that contributed to the political and cu ...

and the founder of the Pomegranate Guild of Judaic Needlework. Starting in 1972, she taught

needlework Needlework refers to decorative sewing and other textile arts, textile handicrafts that involve the use of a Sewing needle, needle. Needlework may also include related textile crafts like crochet (which uses a crochet hook, hook), or tatting, ( ...

at the

Jewish Museum A Jewish museum is a museum which focuses upon Jews and may refer seek to explore and share the Jewish experience in a given area. Notable Jewish museums include: Albania * Solomon Museum, Berat Australia * Jewish Museum of Australia, Melbourn ...

, the

Cooper-Hewitt Museum Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum is a design museum at the Andrew Carnegie Mansion in Manhattan, New York City, along the Upper East Side's Museum Mile. It is one of 19 Smithsonian Institution museums and one of three Smithsonian facili ...

and other venues throughout the eastern United States. Aber's artistic-related archives are held at the

Archives of American Art The Archives of American Art is the largest collection of primary resources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. More than 20 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washing ...

, with other archival collections being held by the

National Museum of Women in the Arts The National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA), located in Washington, D.C., is "the first museum in the world solely dedicated" to championing women through the arts. NMWA was incorporated in 1981 by Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay. Since openi ...

. Her family's papers are held at Yeshiva University. Aber died on April 17, 2025, at the age of 93.

Exhibitions

*2001: "55 Year Retrospective Exhibition", Broome Street Gallery *2007: "Ita B'Ita: Ita Aber in Her Time: 60 Years of Creativity and Innovation by Ita Aber",

Yeshiva University Yeshiva University is a Private university, private Modern Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City.

Museum

Bibliography

*''The art of Judaic needlework: traditional and contemporary designs'', Scribner, 1979, ; *''Art of Judaic Needlepoint'', Simon & Schuster, 1982, *Ita H. Aber, Frann S. Addison, Katya Apekina, Beverly Auerbach, ''Tradition today: modern Judaica and folk art'', Jewish Arts Foundation, 1990

References

External links

Exhibition HEROIC VISIONS & WORLD COSTUMES, FABRIC ART by ITA ABER and sculptures by LINDA STEIN
at the Anita Shapolsky Art Foundation: May 22 through July 9, 2006. *
Ita Aber collection items
at

Yeshiva University Museum The Yeshiva University Museum is a teaching museum and the cultural arm of Yeshiva University. Along with the American Jewish Historical Society, the American Sephardi Federation, the Leo Baeck Institute, New York, and the YIVO Institute for Jew ...

Ita Aber collection
at the

Ita Aber archival collection
at th
Canadian Jewish Archives

Ita Aber object
at th
Museum of Arts and Design, NYC
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aber, Ita 1932 births 2025 deaths 20th-century American women textile artists 20th-century American textile artists 21st-century American women artists American textile artists Canadian emigrants to the United States