In 2004, her friend, Patrick Erwin (who is also an exhibiting artist at the Frank Bette Center) urged her to check the Center out. Like so many of our Members, she was almost immediately drawn to the warm, friendly environment of the Center.

Genie Scott is most certainly one of the most diverse of Frank Bette Center for the Arts’ contributing artists/volunteers. And although she does not necessarily consider photography to be her strong suit, she has nevertheless been one of our more successful photographers. In April 2006 during the first AOC, she had her own show of Memory Photo Collages in our mid-gallery which resulted in some commissioned works. Her submission to the Alameda On Camera 2009 event titled “American Dream on Yorkshire Road” won her an Honorable Mention.

In talking to her, however, you realize that probably her favorite artistic endeavor is beading. She was a charter member of Frank Bette’s own Bodacious Beading Beauties and first showed her jewelry at the Center in June of 2004. Many pieces of her beautiful jewelry are gracing the necks and ears of happy Frank Bette customers. Not only has Genie been the Center’s best selling artist for two years in a row, she has been awarded “Best in Show” three times for both jewelry and photo collages.

She says that if you read the book entitled “Space” by James Michener you will have a pretty good idea of what it was like to grow up in her world. Her father was an electronic engineer and his work on various projects for the space program saw them traveling from their home in Pasadena, California in the family Ford to places like Cape Canaveral; White Sands, New Mexico; Huntsville, Alabama; and the Philadelphia Navy Yards. Her father was a successful amateur photographer with some prize-winning photos -- he lugged around a Hasselblad and a Stereo Realist. (Genie stood with her back to the camera in her red jacket to add color to the composition of her father’s photographs.)

The summer following her graduation from the University of California at Riverside where she was a drama major, specializing in Set Design, she ventured to the Good Speed Opera House in East Haddam, Connecticut. There she was an apprentice to Tony-Award winning Set Designer Howard Bay. That summer, she worked on the original production of Man of La Mancha before it opened in September in New York City.

Marriage to an Army draftee saw her on the road again. She worked for Special Services in the Entertainment Division in an enlisted Men’s Service Club at Fort Knox, Kentucky where her husband was stationed for two years. During that period, she produced plays, and various entertainments for the men stationed there.

Finally settling in Alameda in 1968, it took her a long while to attach herself to the artistic community. In 2004, her friend, Patrick Erwin (who is also an exhibiting artist at the Frank Bette Center) urged her to check the Center out. Like so many of our Members, she was almost immediately drawn to the warm, friendly environment of the Center.

With her home just doors away from the FBCA, she found herself spending more and more time there. And of course, it didn’t take director, Debra Owen, very long to ferret out another of Genie’s artistic skills -- her graphic design wizardry. Genie has become the “go to” person for any graphic design needs at the FBCA. And to speak of grace under pressure: those of us who have seen her design and lay out one of our monthly show postcards in a single morning (needing to be done because the scheduled postcard artist didn’t get their work to the Center by the deadline!) can only watch in amazement as she produces something not only appropriate to the occasion, but striking in appearance. Many of the Center’s postcards, flyers and posters have been created by Genie.

For the third year in a row now, Genie has been selected as one of the artists to participate in the annual, juried Alameda on Camera event. March will be a busy month for her: not only will she be busy putting together her own art pieces for the AOC show in April, there is little doubt that she will then be helping to hang that show.

Once the AOC goes on the gallery walls, it’s time to get up to speed on July’s Plein Air event, an event that requires the teamwork of a small army of volunteers to plan and coordinate. Genie is a proud member of that army.

Like so many others of our volunteer corps, Genie enjoys the FBCA because of the great community of artists who participate in the various events and classes offered there. She takes genuine pleasure in having a place where she can show her artwork, explore new media, take classes and share ideas with like-minded people; and she takes great pride in helping to produce our great Alameda on Camera and Plein Air Paintout.