Bettina Robertson

About

Bettina developed a strong interest in both the visual and performing arts at a very young age. In her early adolescence, she wrote and directed plays in the family attic, complete with lights and curtains. The neighboring children were selected for various acting roles and several plays were performed over the course of the summer months.
Bettina had intended to study theatre and English at Acadia University but was side-tracked into Psychology. Many years later while attending graduate school in Sydney, Australia she enrolled in and completed a diploma in Expressive Arts offered through Rozelle Hospital. The facilitation training included: Moreno’s Psychodrama, authentic movement, art therapy, journalling, puppetry and clowning and developing and presenting short performances. She has utilized these skills when working with children, adults and couples for years to come. Bettina is a passionate believer in that creativity is inherently healing.
Returning to Halifax, Nova Scotia her and a business partner owned and operated a private art gallery for new and emerging artists in the area. This project accepted all types of artistic expression and was strongly supported by the local community. Unfortunately, the heritage home was sold and my business partner returned to Germany.
Bettina then moved to Vancouver, British Columbia where she worked with very marginalized, vulnerable street artists on a program called Out of the Rain. The artists were provided with studio space, art supplies, nutritional lunches, educational workshops etc. Many of these artists were extremely talented but often sold their art pieces for drugs at a margin of what they would procur in a gallery.
The funding was discontinued and Bettina felt this was very unethical. She then spent the next year researching and writing an arts-based social enterprise, which would provide street artists with a liveable income. The product had enormous appeal with high-end retailers, cruise ships, the travel and gift industry. However, despite an enormous effort, Bettina was unable to raise the capital needed for seed/start-up stages.
During her years in Vancouver, she was very involved in the arts community and was fortunate to be involved in several group and solo exhibitions She also developed several art programs for Vancouver Native Housing, Fraser Health-Bolivar Court, and for a girl's orphange in Ecuador.
Bettina is a self-taught artist, who has painted exclusively in watercolour, although she has a strong interest in mixed medium and fiber arts. Her work hangs in private collections in Canada, New Zealand, Australia, the United States of America and Germany.
Bettina has lived in Albury for 2.5 years and is really looking forward to connecting with other artists and creative community groups.