About Betsy

Betsy's Why

Betsy DiJulio is a passionate creative who wears many hats: artist, writer, educator, curator, and lifelong foodie. Her days are fueled by a voracious curiosity, a knack for connecting the dots, and a deep love for symbols and stories. 

Whether she is drawing or painting, wordsmithing, guiding students, organizing exhibitions, or putting an unexpected twist on a familiar dish, Betsy approaches it all with intentionality and contagious enthusiasm. Her work celebrates the beauty of everyday moments and transforms the mundane into invitations for deeper reflection. 

A fierce champion for the arts, cross-disciplinary lifelong learning, and a good sweat session, she thrives on building community through creativity. When she’s not in her studio-office, classroom, gallery, or kitchen, you’ll find her scouting out a hidden trail, snuggling with her dogs, or stirring up inspiration over a piping hot chai soy latte.

Bio

Born in Dallas, TX, raised in Laurel, MS, and a longtime resident of VA Beach, VA, this versatile and award-winning artist, educator, author, and curator brings a multidisciplinary perspective to her creative work. She holds a BA in philosophy (art minor) from the University of Southern Mississippi, an MA in art history from Vanderbilt University, and an Ed.S. in curriculum and instruction from George Washington University. 

Her distinguished career includes 14 years in museum education followed by more than two decades teaching art and art history at the high school and community college levels, as well as curating contemporary art exhibitions.  Since 2002, she has maintained a busy freelance writing practice, launching The Blooming Platter website in 2010 and a year later publishing a vegan cookbook by the same name. In 2025, she published the memoir, Bitter Wine and Sweet Melons: Suffering Loss and Savoring Life.  In recent years, she has refocused on artmaking with a greater sense of urgency.  

Widowed in 2015 and remarried in 2021, she, her husband Bob, and their two mutts, Patsy and Urban, split their time between VA Beach and Southern Shores, NC.