FALL 2025
Join the Arts Council for another arts lecture series that will dive into art and the lives of the best artists in history, in addition to other artistically interesting topics. Scroll down to learn more…
LECTURE: THE WORLD IS MY OFFICE
Wednesday, December 10, 2025 | 5:30 PM
Please join us for this art lecture where Paula Montgomery will talk about her painting (right) and time as an employee at the Central Intelligence Agency. The CIA’s business is knowing the world’s business and this becomes a part of one’s mindset as both a current and former employee. Paula selected the countries for the vignettes in the painting based on significant intelligence activity from the 1960’s to the present: Berlin Wall, Russia, China, Middle East, Southeast Asia & Cuba. There is a lot of symbolism in the painting AND an encrypted code. The World Is My Office reflects Paula’s time with the CIA.
LECTURER: Paula Montgomery has BS degree in Business Administration from George Mason University, Fairfax, VA. She worked for the Central Intelligence Agency from 1973 to 1993. She began employment as a clerk stenographer and at the end of her career, was the head of the Agency’s nation-wide recruitment program. She was employed by the Arts Council of Moore County for 21 years serving as their bookkeeper, database manager, publicist, and gallery curator. She continues to install art in the Arts Council Galleries at Campbell House and creates art of her own working exclusively in acrylic and oil.
Johannes Vermeer’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring”
MASTER OF LIGHT
Art & Mystery of Johannes Vermeer & his Girl with a Pearl Earring
Mon., Oct. 27, 2025 at 5:30pm OR Wed., Oct. 29, 2025 at 10am (Choose date at reservation.)
LECTURER: Ellen Burke
Inn keeper, art dealer, chemist, and artist, Johannes Vermeer remains a bit of a mystery. There are no written sources that chronical his development as an artist, no notebooks, sketchbooks, ledgers for the sale or Provence, or any indication of his mentors or his students or apprentices. Among the many things that make him extraordinary is that 350 years after he was actively painting, we are still discovering new information and a renewed appreciation for his art. Investigating his work, we can see his nod to tradition but also his exploration of “new” ideas. A master of light, Vermeer creates intimate, quiet, often brooding moments and a connection between the subject and the viewer that makes the later in a sense, a spellbound voyeur. Vermeer depicts the wholly commonplace, a woman reading a letter, a figure at a keyboard, and yet, we are riveted. Join us as we explore the art, life, and contemporaries of Vermeer and focus on details of his most beloved works.
Pair this lecture with the Sunrise Theater’s ART ON SCREEN: The Girl with a Pearl Earring on Oct. 28, 2025 (2p) & Oct. 30, 2025 (7p). This film pursues answers to the unresolved riddles surrounding one of the most enduring paintings in the history of art. Tickets are $24 each. Get yours at www.SunriseTheater.com.
THE GREATEST GENERATION AT HOME
What the Monuments Men Accomplished after WWII
Tue., Nov. 18, 2025 at 5:30pm OR Wed., Nov. 19, 2025 at 10am (Choose date at reservation.)
LECTURER: Abbe Allen
In honor of the 80th anniversary of V-E Day, we look at the Monuments Men made up of museum curators, art historians, librarians, architects, and artists during and after WWII to recover cultural treasures. The Monuments Men were responsible for protecting artworks, cathedrals, archives, monuments, and other cultural sites in Europe from damage and looting. Towards the end of the war, their mission changed to one of locating and recovering works that had been taken by the Nazis. The Monuments Men uncovered troves of stolen art hidden across Europe.
LECTURER: Abbe Allen is a retired professor of history, political science, & art history from Sandhills Community College. Prior to moving to Whispering Pines, she was an adjunct instructor in the humanities at Columbus State Community College & a docent at the Columbus Museum of Art. Abbe earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Miami University, two Master of Arts degrees from The Ohio State University, & one Master of Arts degree from Ohio University.
COST per lecture: $26 for Arts Council Members ($32 for Nonmembers)
All lectures will be presented in the Arts Council Galleries at Campbell House
(482 E. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines)
Space is limited. Reserve your seat now with full payment
at the Arts Council or call 910-692-ARTS (2787)