
Ita Aber

 Ita H. Aber (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 in 1932. Her first exposure to feminism was by her grandmother, an early suffragette in Canada, and her mother, who founded the Milk Fund of Canada.
Aber took courses in Jewish history, archaeology, art and textile conservation at Queen's College, Columbia University, the Jewish Theological Seminary, and New York University. She completed a bachelor's degree in Cultural Studies from Empire State College and carried out graduate-level studies at The Valentine Museum (Richmond, Virginia) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 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. She helped found Women Strike for Peace, and also became active in the environmental movement, speaking out against the pollution in the Hudson River. At this time, she also became active in equal rights activism, minority and elder rights.
Aber was a founding member of the New York Feminist Art Institute and the founder of the Pomegranate Guild of Judaic Needlework. Starting in 1972, she taught needlework at the Jewish Museum, the Cooper-Hewitt Museum and other venues throughout the eastern United States. With her teaching and the founding of the Pomegranate Guild, Aber has sought to encourage women to show their womanhood through their artwork, and to learn how to respect themselves through their artistic efforts.
Today.
Aber's artistic-related archives are held at the Archives of American Art, with other archival collections being held by the National Museum of Women in the Arts. Her family's papers are held at Yeshiva University.