Helen Schmidt is a printmaker, sculptor and painter who combines intaglio, artisan papers and oil paint to create richly textured unique prints. Helen is interested in the possibility art has to effect personal and social transformation. It is her belief that learning to access one’s creative potential and then express it helps to bring about change in oneself and in the world. In her work as a teacher she assists her students in that exploration. She began her career as a social worker in New York’s South Bronx as an advocate for unhoused women and children. Upon moving to Vermont, she worked as a legal advocate to women at the Women’s Freedom Center. She began teaching art to at risk teenaged girls when she co-founded Expresso, and later taught art to women on furlough in the Tapestry Program at the Brattleboro Retreat. She also taught classes at Art in the Neighborhood, a program that provides free classes to economically disadvantaged and culturally diverse youth in Brattleboro. She taught at The River Gallery School in Brattleboro for 24 years, and in addition to teaching adult studio classes, she served as the director of their Children and Teens Program. She taught printmaking at the Community College of Vermont, and currently teaches printmaking and painting at The Putney School. Helen studied at The Lacoste School for the Arts in Lacoste, France and in Boston at The Museum School. She received her B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College and M.F.A. from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She has exhibited her artwork throughout the NorthEast, and has artwork in private collections in the United States and Europe.