Cooper Hewitt says...
Lydia van Gelder graduated from the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco in 1930. She married Homer van Gelder in 1936 and they had three sons. For over 25 years, she taught at Santa Rosa Junior College; her classes included spinning, weaving, knitting, natural dyes, ikat techniques and much more. Van Gelder also established important spinning and weaving guilds throughout Northern California, and frequently lectured and offered fiber workshops. Known primarily for her ikat designs, she collaborated with Alfred Bühler of Switzerland, to write the books, Ikat (1980) and Ikat II (1996). These publications are both practical and instructional, but also include an explanation of the historical and cultural background of the technique. Her first major exhibit was at the 1939 Treasure Island World’s Fair in San Francisco. Throughout her long career, she exhibited at the Redwood Empire Handweavers and Spinners Guild, the de Young Museum in San Francisco, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburg and many other galleries.
