Artist and art instructor Betty Ann Kipniss MacDonald was born in Brooklyn, New York, on August 2, 1936. From an early age her family was encouraging of the pursuit of art: her mother, Stella, was a fashion illustrator and graphic artist; her father, Simeon, was a hobby painter and graphic designer. Her brother Robert Kipniss would become a celebrated painter and printmaker.

Betty received her BA at Adelphi University in 1958, and her MFA at the Columbia University in 1960. She studied as well at the Art Students League, New York. She began her teaching career as an instructor at Montshire Museum from 1979 to 1984, followed by a position at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C., and finally a position at the Corcoran Museum of Art from 1995 to 1998. She was president of the board of directors for the Washington Printmakers Gallery and was on the board of the Washington Print Club.

Exhibitions include the National Museum Women in Arts, Washington, 1994-1995; River Gallery, Tennessee, 2008; National Gallery Art; and the National Portrait Gallery. Permanent collections include Community for Creative Nonviolence, Washington, Museum Modern Art, Buenos Aires, American Cultural Center, New Delhi, India, Pennsylvania State University, New Orleans Museum Art, Montgomery Museum Fine Arts, Alabama, Mississippi Museum Art, New York Public Library, Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University, New Jersey, House of Humour and Satire, Gabrovo, Bulgaria.

Her work was featured in William and Mary Review, 1992-1996, Quarterly magazine, 2006, Federal Reserve Washington. She has regularly contributed to Journal of the Print World Magazine.