The passion of a collector was evident the day Elizabeth Van Gelder and I met at the de Menil Gallery where 250 objects from her extensive collection are on display at the Groton School. Van Gelder’s collection of tribal artifacts and textiles, her “gathering of beauty,” began in 1989 with her travels while on sabbatical from her position as art teacher there. “I started collecting because I’m an artist and I’m a traveler,” she explained. “What excites me is going to a place where no one looks like me or speaks my language. That’s what I find the most interesting. It’s about different. It’s different from what I am and who I am and what I know. And so, every trip I take is, for me, a time to really learn something new. “When I started collecting, I focused on material culture. I realized that was one of the most intimate ways to know about a people or a culture. It tells you what … [Read more...] about A COLLECTOR’S PASSION: TRIBAL ARTIFACTS AND TEXTILES AT GROTON