In 1968, Elva Bett and her business partner Catherine Duncan opened the Bett-Duncan Gallery on Cuba Street, where they exhibited works of promising and established artists, and Bett held art classes.

Early exhibitions included pottery by Doreen Blumhardt and prints by Greer Twiss and Hamish Keith. In 1976, Duncan left the gallery which subsequently became the Elva Bett Gallery. Art by emerging artists such as Tony Fomison, Philip Clairmont, Allen Maddox Rita Angus and Robin White were exhibited.