Join as the Arts Council of Moore County presents the Arts Lecture Series of Fall 2025! For many years, the Arts Council has presented art lectures that dive into art and the lives of the best artists in history, in addition to other artistically interesting topics. The lectures have focused on talented painters, sculptors, potters, architects and more.

Join as Ellen Burke presents a lecture on “Drawn to Nature: Beatrix Potter as Gardener, Artist, Author, & Naturalist” at the Arts Council Galleries at Campbell House. There are two lecture times, April 9th at 5:30pm or April 10th at 10:00am. Familiar to most of us as the author of the beloved The Tales of Peter Rabbit, Beatrix Potter was also an avid gardener, mycologist, and naturalist. As a small child in Victorian London, her first gardening tools were a pencil and paintbrush creating sketches of the flowers she saw in the public gardens. It was on family holidays to England’s lakes district that her passion for nature and gardening blossomed. A careful observer, Beatrix started keeping sketchbook journals as a child recording what she noticed in the gardens; the plants, insects, and animals that inhabited both her actual and fantasy life. As a teenager, she was introduced to the concept of land preservation, which remained a driving force throughout her life. Join us as we explore the life of this remarkable woman from the cautionary tales of the Flopsy Bunnies, her studies of English wildflowers, botanical illustrations of fungi, and the preservation of her beloved Hill Top Farm, as much her legacy as her literary works.

Lecturer: Ellen Burke is an arts educator with 37 years of experience as a studio art instructor and fine and performing arts administrator. In addition to teaching in Massachusetts, she was an adjunct instructor in art education at the New Hampshire Art Institute. Since moving to Pinehurst, she has presented art lectures at local galleries and teaches small group art lessons to children and adults.

Space is limited. Cost per lecture is $26 for Arts Council Members | $32 for Nonmembers. Reserve your seat now with full payment and your time choice at the Arts Council Galleries or by calling 910-692-2787. For more information, CLICK HERE.