Wildenhain moved from New York to California on May 27, 1940 where she held a teaching position for two years at the California College of Arts and Crafts (CCAC) in Oakland. In the early 1940s, Wildenhain relocated to Pond Farm, a tract of farmland owned by architect Gordon Herr and his wife Jane Herr, where she focused on creating the workshop it would become. After gaining U.S. citizenship in 1945, Wildenhain was able to fund and to sponsor the emigration of her husband (who, in the years of their separation, had been drafted into the German army).