Helen Katharine Forbes (February 3, 1891 – May 27, 1945) was a Californian artist and arts educator specializing in etching, murals and painting.

She is best known for western landscapes, portrait paintings, and her murals with the Treasury Section of Fine Arts and Work Progress Administration (WPA).

[2][3] Later traveling to Europe to study with André Lhote, Ernst Leyden and Hermann Groeber and to attend Academy of Fine Arts, Munich (also known as the Akademic der Bildenden Künste, München) from 1921 until 1925.

[5] From 1930 until 1932 Forbes traveled for short periods of time to Death Valley, in order to finding inspiration for her scenes of the West.

[2] In 1939, Forbes worked with artist, Dorothy Wagner Puccinelli to paint the interior four panel murals of the Mother's Building at the San Francisco Zoo.

[7][8] The four murals depict a Noah's Ark-theme with animals and were funded by Federal Art Project (FAP) and Works Progress Administration (WPA).