Biography
| 1949 | Born on 12 June in Düsseldorf. Her father, Wilhelm Derix, is a glass painter, business economist and artist. |
| 1966-69 | Hadamar School of Glas and City |
| 1968 |
After marrying Renato Santarossa and giving birth to her daughter Maya, she and her husband found a concept art gallery, exhibiting works by Joseph Beuys, Jochen Gerz, Terry Fox and Klaus Staeck, among others. |
| 1973 |
After separating from her husband, Hella S. moves to Berlin and begins studying free painting at the Berlin Highschool of the Arts under Prof. K.H. Hödicke. |
| 1978 |
Hella S. wins the Mies van der Rohe Prize awarded by the Flat Glass Association of Germany |
| 1979 |
master degree. The Galerie am Moritzplatz in Berlin exhibits her ‘Bicycle Pictures’. |
| 1979-80 |
Annette Kade Scholarship at the San Francisco Art Institue |
| 1980-81 |
in Dept. of Film. She shoots three short experimental films, which are shown at the Berlinale in 1981. |
| 1980-81 |
DAAD Scholarship in Florence at the Villa Romana |
| 1982 |
Karl Schmidt-Rottluff Scholarship |
| 1983 |
Scholarship at the Villa Massimo in Olevano |
| 1984 | Journey through Brazil |
| 1990 |
Visiting Professor at the Sidney College of the Arts and at the Fine Arts School Melbourne |
| 1995 |
Inauguration of the 15 m high glass fountain "The Blue Obelisk" at Theodor Heuss Place in Berlin |
| 1997 |
Exhibition of her work ‘Zeitnadel’ (Time Needle) at Documenta X in Kassel. |