Helen Hiebert

Essay by Barb Tetenbaum and Tim Barrett

While a concise overview of major events in Helen Hiebert’s life can be gained by listening to her 2022 interview with Barb Tetenbaum, Helen’s career and contributions to the field of papermaking and paper arts are so numerous and varied that we felt a listing of the most  important highlights would be the best way to summarize it all. What is a throughline in Helen’s activities is her unending, insatiable desire to connect with as much of the public in as many ways as possible. One can follow a history of late-twentieth- to early-twenty-first-century communication technologies when mapping out Helen’s career, as she found ways to take advantage of emerging modes and platforms. From Sesame Street to how-to book publishing, teaching (in her studio, as well as through travel, video, and Zoom), films, blogs, websites, interviews, paper clubs, craft products, intern training, working as a master papermaker with various artists in her studio, and more, Helen has continually found ways to connect more and more people with the world of paper and papermaking.

Here follow some of the most important things we feel have shaped Helen’s career and put her at the center of the field:

• Helen’s early interest in art and architecture was fostered by encouragement from her parents. Her study in Germany in both high school and college, her early travel to Japan, and an early fascination with paper constructions were formative.

• Helen’s first opportunities to learn papermaking began in New York City where she worked for six years at Dieu Donné.

• During her career Helen was strongly influenced by the work of Susan Share and Hedi Kyle and she let their work, spirit, and motivations help shape her own

• She has published a total of six books about papermaking and publishes a weekly blog called The Sunday Paper.

• As an artist, both solo and in collaboration, Helen has produced artist books, paper-based installations, short films, paper- and light-based installations, and other innovative art objects.

• Helen has worn many hats in addition to those mentioned above. These include podcaster, researcher, author, grant writer, paper and papermaking innovator, and paper workshop retreat host, all of which can be gleaned by a quick or in-depth visit to her website.

 Helen Hiebert has had what seems like a non-stop 24/7 engagement with paper since she first interned at Dieu Donné in 1992. Across the decades, she has been fearless in taking on opportunities that were put in front of her, even though they often constituted an entirely new arena for her. As her career unfolded, she became a kind of “Johnny Appleseed” of paper and papermaking, always finding new ways to shine light on the subject and the practice.

 In closing, during her career, Helen Hiebert evolved from a self-taught and resourceful advocate for herself and her work, to an advocate and resource for the entire field.  Her new status as a NAHP Hall of Papermaking Champion is highly appropriate and well deserved.