Helene Louise Hibben

Helene Hibben, n.d.

Courtesy of George Hibben via Find A Grave

Helene Hibben was the daughter of Thomas Hibben, an artist and friend of William Forsyth, and Jane Merrill Ketcham, an early Indianapolis woman physician. Born in Indianapolis, she lived in Irvington. Interested in both art and education, Hibben first attended Pratt Institute in New York City to train in early childhood education. She later studied art at several institutions across the country, working with William Forsyth at John Herron Art Institute, sculptor Lorado Taft in Chicago, and studying bronze relief work at the Art Students League in New York.

Upon returning to Indianapolis, Hibben combined her background in art and childhood education by teaching children’s classes in sculpture and pottery at Herron. She also continued her own art and became known for her miniature busts and bas-relief portraits, including her bronze portraits of poet James Whitcomb Riley and Indiana native and U.S vice president Thomas R. Marshall. In 1914, Hibben contributed to the Indianapolis City Hospital Project by creating a 3 x 8-foot bronze dedication plaque for the Burdsal Unit of the City Hospital of Indianapolis.

Portrait of James Whitcomb Riley, Helene Louise Hibben, 1911

© Helene Louise Hibben, Courtesy of Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields

In 1917, Hibben and her sister organized a French kindergarten in their home in Irvington named the Hibben School for Children. They converted the school to a general kindergarten, and it quickly outgrew their home. By 1926, they moved the school to a new building at 5231 Pleasant Run Parkway. In addition to teaching and serving as the school’s director, Hibben also designed educational toys that were used in her classroom.

Over the next couple of decades, Hibben continued running her school while also working on her art. She primarily focused on commission work, making bronze sculptures, pottery, and art tiles. Several of Hibben’s sculptures were featured in the 1936 show at the Irvington Artist’s Exhibition. By World War II, she began to focus less on art and more on teaching and childcare. She continued to teach at her school until 1963.