For one special morning, artist grand masters will visit the Sandhills.

This preview program, "An Anthology of Flowers," will be held at Owens Auditorium, on the campus of Sandhills Community College, Thursday, Oct. 18, at 10 a.m.

The program offers a unique opportunity to study images of some of the floral still-life masterpieces, which will appear in the upcoming North Carolina Museum of Art exhibit.

Sandra Rusak, director of education at the museum, will elaborate and celebrate specific floral still lifes featured in the show, "Still-Life Masterpieces: A Visual Feast from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston."

Rusak is an enthusiastic speaker who has always loved art.

"I started 'illustrating' my mother's cookbooks when I was 3," she says. "My grandparents lived near the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, and I nearly lived in the galleries each summer when I visited. >I had favorite paintings and sculptures that I couldn't wait to visit and revisit year after year. I can't imagine another career."

The images Rusak will focus on include works ranging in style and period from 17th-century Italian masterworks to the lush palettes of Impressionists and the edgy approach of Modernists. She is equally passionate when speaking of the "joyous riot of color" Renoir presents as well as the "dark and brooding quality" Gustave Courbet offers the viewer.

"Anthology of Flowers" is presented by the joint efforts of the Arts Council of Moore County, N.C. Museum of Art, the Sandhills Council of Garden Clubs, and the Weymouth Center for Arts and Humanities.

As such, Rusak's talk "will focus on those works that feature flowers. It will be a snapshot of the offerings, but my hope is that the talk will spark an interest and excitement that will bring people to Raleigh to see this outstanding exhibition."

"Still-Life Masterpieces" "is unique for the variety of approaches to the discipline of still-life painting; there are so many great artists represented across different time periods and continents. Another fun and unexpected component is the addition of decorative arts to the collection - there are 18th-century French porcelains decorated with floral sprays, a fabulous Tiffany vase, and beautiful silver pieces with floral motifs. It makes you think about the concept of still life in new ways."

Admission is $10 at the door. No reservations are required.