Helen Plenert is a native of Sacramento and attended locally at American River College and CSU Sacramento. She studied with John Kaneko and Gary Pruner. Other teachers who influenced were Bill Allen, Mel Ramos, Ken Waterstreet, and  Wayne Thiebaud. She moved to San Francisco and during the '80's she held various professional positions at theaters throughout San Francisco. Her job titles ranged from Set, Graphic, Costume Designer; Artistic Advisor, Technical Director, and Producer. She worked closely with internationally renowned writers and Directors such as David Henry Hwang, Victor Wong, Judy Neihe,  Philip Gotanda, Amy Hill, Dennis Dunn and others, many who haled from the Asian American Theater Company. Her theater stage design work for F.O.B. by D.H.Hwang toured the 1984 Singapore and Hong Kong Theater Festivals.

     This experience transformed her personal artwork.  It gave her a new perspective on what the public understands and needs in their daily lives. As an artist, she feels obligated to educate and energize the viewer. Simplicity and a new view of the commonplace can be uplifting in the average person's life.
By 1988 Helen received her general contractors license to enabler her to do her artwork with no limitations. She is qualified by the State of California to manage building projects as well as construction and art installations. Helen has wide knowledge of various materials and applications. She can design with the knowledge of structural foundations and began to collaborate with her husband and other artists in 1982 on various projects.