Richard Helmick received a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Master of Fine Arts degrees from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. His art practice degrees include a minor in art history. His career was in teaching art and design at the university level, mostly at the University of Missouri, but also Texas A&M University, Nanjing Art Institute, China and Pusan National University, South Korea. He has worked in many media – sculpture, printmaking, and, more recently, drawing. He has exhibited his art in national and international juried shows over the decades of his life. His works are included in public, private and university collections.