A Maryland artist who has worked for nearly half a century is the subject of the latest exhibit unveiled by the Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art in Reston.
Betsy Packard’s solo exhibition “Ways of Thinking About Your Life” opened on Nov. 1 at the institute’s gallery in the Signature apartment building at 11850 Freedom Drive, where it will remain on display through Feb. 1, 2025.
Spanning Packard’s entire career working in the D.C. region, with the earliest piece dating back to 1978, the exhibit features sculptures and multimedia pieces that utilize everyday objects, such as old clothes and egg cartons, to celebrate materials that change with time as an alternative to modern consumer culture’s obsession with the “sleek, shiny, and new,” according to Tephra.
In a press release, Packard says she became interested in using materials that reflect “ideas of history, re-use, and record-keeping” after studying in Italy.
“Clothes I wore, letters, notes, photos, ticket stubs, etc — they have the ability to call up stages in our lives and evoke powerful associations — and I had a desire to preserve these moments in the creation of a physical ‘journal,'” she said. “My work began to slowly evolve from this type of personal, literal icon-making toward a more general recording of experience.”
Tephra ICA at Signature is open to the public for free on Wednesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The satellite gallery showcases work by local and regional artists throughout the year.
More on Packard’s background from Tephra:
Betsy Packard has been an active artist in the Washington, DC-region for over 40 years. Her work has been exhibited across the United States, most recently in Pattern and Process at the Krannert Art Museum at University of Illinois, Metamorphosis: Highlights from the Permanent Collection at The Newcomb Art Museum in New Orleans, and Outliers: Kurt Godwin and Betsy Packard at the Katzen Arts Center. In 1977, Packard installed a site-specific artwork for the inaugural exhibition Louisiana Environments at the Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans.
Her work has also been shown regionally and nationally at Galerie Simonne Stern, Curator’s Office, The Shiva Gallery, John Jay College, the City University of New York, West Hubbard Gallery, The Addison Gallery of American Art, the Washington Project for the Arts, McLean Project for the Arts, the District of Columbia Arts Center, Maryland Art Place, Anton Gallery, and Gallery 10, among others.
Packard received Visual Artist’s Grants from the Maryland State Arts Council in 1988 and 1991 and served on the Washington Project for the Arts Board of Directors from 1985–1987. Her work is included in numerous private and public collections, including The Krannert Art Museum, The Newcomb Art Museum, and The American University Museum. She received a BFA from University of Illinois and an MFA from Tulane University.
