Betty Bullen

"Cutting Time" by Betty Bullen is Heritage Fest collectible print

A field of tobacco with a tractor and a barn.

"Cutting Time," the 2021 Union County Heritage Festival collectible print by Betty Bullen

When the Union County Heritage Festival (UCHF) committee announced the theme for the 2021 Heritage Festival to be "Take A Country Road," my mind immediately went to what a one might have seen as he or she traveled down a country road in Union County some fifty-plus years ago. For sure, one would have seen a tobacco patch, or 'bakker patch' as it might have been called back then.

Arts, Culture, and Humanities - Union County Arts Council

Union County Art Council Members: Randy Turner, Gloria Holcomb, Susan Boone, Carol Pratt not pictured Eric Holcomb and Betty Bullen.

The Union County Arts Council (UCAC) was originally birthed within the Chamber of Commerce, started by Julie Graham and Cindy Taylor with the first Art in the Park event held at Paulette Elementary School soon after its construction. Today’s board consists of President Carol Pratt, local artist Betty Bullen, Randy Turner, Eric and Gloria Holcomb, and Susan Boone. The council operates as a 501c3 organization and has successfully applied for and received grants for Arts, Culture, and Humanities.

Preserving our natural and historic sites: Preservation Union County

Oak Grove School now renovated and providing educational support as the Sharps Chapel Book Station

I recently spoke to Preservation Union County board member Betty Bullen to learn more about the nonprofit organization and what it does for Union County.
Preservation Union County currently operates under the Knox Heritage umbrella, Knox Heritage having received a grant from National Historic Preservation to do outreach work with the 16 surrounding counties and creating the East Tennessee Preservation Alliance.

UCB&PA names Robbie Corum and Betty Bullen as Man and Woman of 2020

Robbie Corum and Betty Bullen will serve as ambassadors for Union County Business & Professional Association after being named Man and Woman of 2020. Both are outstanding representatives of the UCB&PA's motto of “Growth Through Giving.” Both also have a history of servant leadership and connecting various organizations to help Union County and surrounding counties of East Tennessee prosper.

Fiddling Around

"Fiddling Around"

“Fiddling Around” is the theme of this year’s Union County Heritage Festival to be held on Oct. 6th, at Wilson Park, and it is also the title of the 2018 Festival Collectible Print. When asked to paint something to go along with this year’s theme, it didn’t take me long to come up with an idea.

Why ART ?

Betty Bullen

Art makes our lives better. Art entertains us. Art heightens our self-awareness and our awareness of others. It helps us perceive complexity as pleasure and possibility not as irritating and uncertainty. Art records history and exemplifies past civilizations. Art has also been known to become a vice you can't let go of. I discovered this vice as a child and re-discovered it about 20-years ago doing decorative painting with acrylic paints and then falling in love with oil paints. Since then, I have been blessed to study with some of the finest artist in the United States.

Collectible Print Coming Home

Collectible Print Coming Home

The Union County Heritage Festival announces its 2017 collectible print "Coming Home". Keeping with this year's Festival theme, "Come Here Come Home", Artist Betty Bullen has delivered an emotional picture of a veteran returning home from service to Union County. Betty says she gathered inspiration for the painting from numerous sources, including an episode of Bill Landry's Heartland Series where Landry interviews a Sharps Chapel Farm boy who returned home to Union County from service in WW II.