Naomi Kark Schedl, artist and professor, was born in South Africa in 1920 to Rebecca Rosenstein and Solomon Ezekiel Kark. Rosenstein, a feminist, was known as an accomplished pianist and Solomon Kark was a well-known doctor in Capetown. He received his medical degree from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and became an internist in 1928.

After graduating from high school, Kark attended university in South Africa, intending to pursue a degree in history. In June 1941, Kark moved to the United States to continue her education. She received a BFA in 1943, and a MFA in painting in 1944, both from Yale University's School of Fine Arts. Kark was employed for a short time at Salem College, a women's college in North Carolina, before she married Harold (Hal) Schedl in 1945. The couple had three children, Paul, Andrew and Timothy.

The family moved to Iowa City in 1951 in order for Hal Schedl to attend medical school at the University of Iowa. They later relocated to Washington, D.C., where Schedl took lessons in weaving, batik, silk screening, and other fiber arts. In 1960, Hal Schedl accepted a faculty position at the University of Iowa, and the family returned to Iowa City. Schedl briefly taught at the Johnson County Recreation Center. In 1966, she accepted a part-time position in the University of Iowa Department of Home Economics. She eventually became a full-time faculty member, and taught in the department until its closure in 1991. The Fiber Art courses and the MA with Emphasis in Fiber Art were cross-listed with the School of Art and Art History.

After her retirement, Schedl was active in the Iowa City and Johnson County Arts Council (later Arts Iowa City). From the 1960s through the 2000s, Schedl exhibited her work and participated in conferences and workshops. Her artwork was influenced by her upbringing in racially divided South Africa, and her experiences with discrimination at Yale. Schedl's pieces reflect her interests in feminism, politics, and the environment.