Riva Helfond

Polo Players

ca. 1940s

Riva Helfond, painter, printmaker and educator, was born in Brooklyn. She studied at the School of Industrial Art and the Art Students League, both in New York. Helfond taught in the WPA/FAP programs in New York from 1936–41 and was on the creative staff of their graphics division. In 1964, she taught printmaking at New York University, and since 1980, has been on the faculty of Union College, Cranford, New Jersey. Her work can be seen in the collections of the California State Museum, Los Angeles; Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh; Cincinnati Museum; Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.; Metropolitan Museum of Art; Miami Museum of Fine Art; Museum of Modern Art; Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.; Miami Center for Fine Arts; New York Public Library, Print Collection and the Boston Public Library Print Collection. Helfond has exhibited widely and is the recipient of numerous awards, most recently the Society of American Graphic Artists Award for Outstanding Collograph. Her work is included in the Archives of American Art.