Ida Kohlmeyer: A Life in Abstraction Early Life and Education Born: November 3, 1912, New Orleans, Louisiana. Died: January 24, 1997. Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer was the daughter of Polish immigrants. She received a Bachelor of Arts in English from Newcomb College (Tulane University). Her initial artistic spark ignited during her honeymoon to Mexico in 1934, where she became captivated by the vibrant ceramic folk art of Central…