Betty Brown attended Regent House Grammar School, Newtownards, 1967-74 and did the Foundation Year at the Ulster Polytechnic 1974-75. She gained her B.A. in Fine Art from Portsmouth Polytechic and returned to complete an M.A. at the University of Ulster, 1984-85 when she made a dramatic change of direction to scultpture.

She won the Guinness Peat Aviation Award for emerging artists in 1986. Brown is currently working as an artist in the community. In 1999 she did a residency with the Ballinglen Arts Foundation at Ballycastle and has been elected a Fellow of the Foundation.