Kansas artist Dennis Kent Helm, best known for his landscapes and portraits, was born July 24, 1946 at Stafford, Kansas to Loyd Walter and Wilma Alice (Jones) Helm. He attended public schools in Reno County, Kansas, studied art at Hutchinson Community College, and in 1972 received a bachelor's degree in Fine Arts from the University of Kansas at Lawrence. Helm studied art with University of Kansas professor and artist Robert Sudlow for many years. From 1985 to 1987, he was artist for the renovation of Lawrence's historic opera house, Liberty Hall, for which he created wall and ceiling murals. Helm's oil paintings, lithographs, and drawings have been widely exhibited and are held in many private collections in the U.S. and abroad. He died June 4, 1992 in Lawrence, Kansas.