Jana Vander Lee (b. 1945, Hammond, IN), an American fiber artist, earned her BA from Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI, in 1967 and soon after moved to Houston, TX, where she began her career as an artist, educator, writer, and curator. Her work is inspired by her early life in the Dutch Calvinist church, her travels to the American Southwest to study Navajo weaving, and her deep knowledge of the American Fiber Arts tradition through self-education.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Vander Lee exhibited widely in the region, including at the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, San Angelo, TX (1999); Art League Houston, Houston, TX (1986, 1987, 1988, 1997, 1998); DiverseWorks, Houston, TX (1984, 1996, 1997); Museum of East Texas, Lufkin, TX (1987); Lawndale Art Center, Houston, TX (1979, 1982, 1984, 1986); and Blaffer Gallery at the University of Houston (1980). She was also instrumental in organizing exhibitions introducing fiber art into the mainstream fine art scene in Houston, most notably American Fiber Art: A New Definition at Blaffer Gallery, University of Houston in 1980 and American Fiber: A New Aesthetic at DiverseWorks in 1984.
Her work can be found in the public collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL; the Houston Public Library, Houston, TX; and Savaria Muzeum, Szombathely, Hungary. In the mid-1990s, Vander Lee lost her eyesight, a condition that lasted nearly two decades. Having recently regained her sight, the artist has reengaged with her practice and she is now making new work for the first time since the 90s.
Vander Lee lives and works in Chicago, IL.