Armed with her paints and brushes, local multi-media artist and Barrington resident, Denise Devereux Peters arrives on a beautiful October Saturday at the Betty McLaughlin Memorial Butterfly Garden at Vehe Farm. It is the day when Denise will discuss the various life cycles she will paint on the stepping stones on behalf of Erin Guarnieri and Kelli Kranz’s Girl Scout Silver Award project. The stepping stones will highlight the life cycle of a colorful monarch butterfly, a robin, a sunflower, a frog, and a little spotted red lady beetle.

Visitors to the garden now have the visual opportunity to learn about the various fauna that make the butterfly garden their home. Denise comments “sharing my talents with Erin and Kelli has been so fulfilling. As a mom of two young girls, my hope is to have them emulate the same path of giving back to the community”.

Denise and her family moved to the Barrington area roughly eighteen months ago and quickly began her new role as a Leave No Child Inside (LNCI) participant, first as a parent bringing her children to local LNCI activities and then as a member of the LNCI initiative for the greater Barrington and Lake Zurich areas. In addition to her community service roles, Denise is a member of Barrington Cultural Arts Center, an instructor at Battaille Art, and will be teaching art over the upcoming winter and spring for the Barrington Park District. “Teaching the Arts through nature exposes the wonder of our circle of life”, states Mrs. Peters, “those of us who have been blessed with a talent comes a duty to teach and to share. This responsibility is part of the gift.”

To view the educational paintings, please visit the Betty McLaughlin Memorial Butterfly Garden at Vehe Farm located just east of Cuba and Ela Roads. To learn more about the Leave No Child Inside initiative, visit www.funoutside.org.
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