The collector attacked the politics of art with the same vigor with which she pursued the art itself. In 1957 she helped found the Dallas Museum of Contemporary Art, in defiance of critics in the community who thought works by Picasso, Rivera and others hanging at the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts were "too communistic." (The DMCA and DMFA merged in 1963 and took the name Dallas Museum of Art in 1984.) The ensuing controversy could be one reason a Rivera she donated to the DMFA, "Portrait of Dr. Otto Ruhle" (1940), disappeared from view, only to resurface many years later. At a DMA board meeting attended by the donor—who by this time had a new surname, Blake—the museum’s relatively new director announced excitedly, "Guess what I found in storage! A Rivera, from somebody named Betty McLean."

Despite having homes in New York, Dallas, and Newport, Blake is running out of room for new acquisitions. But that hasn’t dulled her appetite—she is still actively looking. "I want to see everything that’s going on. I’m very interested in what they’re painting today, the psychology of it," says Blake, who attends a constant stream of exhibition openings and events such as Art Basel in Switzerland and Miami. She is a strenuous supporter of living artists, especially those working in Texas, where she spends eight months of the year. Her recent acquisitions include works by Texas talents Sedrick Huckaby, David Bates, David McManaway, Linda Ridgway, Julie Bozzi, and Jim Love.

Over the years, boards and advisory councils of collecting institutions in Texas, New York, Washington, D.C., and Rhode Island have sought out Blake’s expertise. She has also held a seat on the acquisitions committee of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth for more than 50 years.

Blake’s quest to live surrounded by Contemporary art has proved to be her fountain of youth. "Betty is never stuck in a groove," says Minton, who attributes his friend’s mind-set to her "eye for composition, her willingness to experiment and not follow convention. Betty loves life more than anyone I can think of."