Provided

The FIRST LEGO League Expo returns to Duffield Hall Atrium Jan. 26, with projects by more than 100 area elementary school students.

'Drawn to Excellence'

The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art continues to roll out new exhibitions with "Drawn to Excellence: Renaissance to Romantic Drawings From a Private Collection," opening Jan. 26.

With more than 80 works by such masters as Bartolommeo, Bronzino and Delacroix, the exhibition of master drawings comes from a private collection first featured in 2007 at the Pierpont Morgan Library and Museum in New York City and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

Continuing through May 5, the exhibition was curated by Andrew Weislogel, the museum's curator of pre-1800 European art, who wrote entries in the accompanying catalog; and organized by the Smith College Museum of Art. Weislogel will lead a free Art for Lunch discussion of the exhibition at noon Feb. 14.

Also at the museum: A free public reception for five new spring semester exhibitions, Feb. 1, 5-7 p.m., with previews of "Beauties and Beasties in Children's Book Illustrations" and "Ana Mendieta in Exile: Selected Films," both Feb. 2-May 5; and a 4:30 p.m. gallery talk on "Weaver's Stories from Island Southeast Asia" with Roy Hamilton, curator of Asian art at the University of California-Los Angeles' Fowler Museum.

Storm Tharp '92, who has a new solo show on campus, gives an artist's talk Jan. 31 at 5:15 p.m.

LEGO Expo

More than 100 elementary schoolchildren will gather Jan. 26 from 1-3:30 p.m. in Duffield Hall Atrium for the seventh annual Junior FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) LEGO League Expo.

Hosted by the Cornell NanoScale Facility, the expo will involve 22 teams and about 120 students from Ithaca, Trumansburg and Dryden area schools.

NanoScale Facility researchers and staff will review team projects, which focus on quality of life for senior citizens. Students learned about the challenges seniors face in moving around, keeping in touch with friends and family, and staying active and fit.

Ithaca's Belle Sherman Elementary School and its Robotics Club after-school enrichment program will have three teams at the expo. Their projects -- including one comparing modern subway systems to trolleys -- use motors and sensors operated by student-created software. Information: http://usfirst.org/.

Folk for the masses

Pierce and Grace Pettis will perform Jan. 27 on WVBR-FM's "Bound for Glory," the folk music concert series hosted by Phil Shapiro since 1967 and broadcast Sundays from 8-11 pm. from Anabel Taylor Hall Café. Admission is free for all ages.

Upcoming shows will bring singer-songwriters Cliff Eberhardt, Feb. 3; and Joe Crookston, Feb. 10. Information: http://www.wvbr.com/bfg.

Shapiro's Group Folk Guitar Lessons on Monday nights also return, starting Jan. 28 in the International Lounge of Willard Straight Hall. Bring a guitar -- the series of eight one-hour lessons are geared to beginners (7 p.m.) and intermediate players looking to improve (8 p.m.); registration and payment ($60 for the course) is at the first lesson. Presented by Cornell's Student Union Board and open to the Cornell community and the general public. Information: Phil Shapiro, 607-844-4535, pds10@cornell.edu or http://www.shapiroandshore.com/guitarclass.html.

Well-bred bread

Bread -- is it simply the staff of life? Or a means of fomenting change by reclaiming our food systems while appreciating the sensuality of locally grown grains?

The next Science Cabaret, Jan. 29 at 7 p.m. at Lot 10 Lounge, 112 S. Cayuga St., Ithaca, will present Stefan Senders, a local baker on a mission, with "Nice Buns: A Dissertation on the Erotics of Bread."

An artisan baker, anthropologist, local foods promoter and musician, Senders will discuss the art and science (and possibly the politics) behind the baked goods he creates at Wide Awake Bakery in Mecklenburg.

Information: http://www.sciencecabaret.org/.

Discussing wages

Faculty member Kevin Hallock will give a Chats in the Stacks talk on his new book, "Pay: Why People Earn What They Earn and What You Can Do Now to Make More," Jan. 31 at 4:30 p.m. in ILR's Catherwood Library Kheel Center, 227 Ives Hall. Free.

"Pay" examines wage differences across groups, wage inequality, executive and "superstar" pay, compensation in nonprofits, and the cost of compensation to organizations vs. the value placed on compensation by employees. Hallock demystifies the world of compensation, identifying the total rewards including employment benefits, opportunities for growth, working conditions and job stability.

Hallock is the Donald C. Opatrny '74 Chair of Economics, the Joseph R. Rich '80 Professor of Economics and of Human Resources Studies, and director of the Institute for Compensation Studies.

Refreshments will be available and books sold for signing.

Art of avant-garde film

Cornell Cinema screens the 2012 documentary "Free Radicals: A History of Experimental Film," Jan. 31 at 7 p.m., showing with Jennifer Reeves' recent 16mm short "Landfill 16."

Director Pip Chodorov's journey through avant-garde film over the last century is informative and joyful for novices and aficionados alike, focusing on such influential practitioners as Stan Brakhage, Robert Breer and Jonas Mekas through anecdotal conversations with the filmmakers and examples of their work.

Also at Cornell Cinema: "Ponyo," kicking off the 2013 IthaKid Film Festival, Jan. 26 at 2 p.m.; "The Tin Drum," Jan. 30 at 7 p.m. and Feb. 1 at 6:30 p.m.; Jin-ho Hur's 2012 remake of "Dangerous Liaisons," set in 1930s Shanghai, Jan. 31 at 9:15 p.m.; and, beginning a series of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy screenings, "The Fellowship of the Ring," Feb. 1 at 9:45 p.m. For more movies this week, visit http://cinema.cornell.edu or see TTD for Jan. 18-25 (http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Jan13/TTDJan18.html).

Urban biodiversity

The 2013 Hans and Roger Strauch Symposium on Sustainable Design, Feb. 1-3 in Milstein Auditorium, will offer a forum for discussions to advance research at the intersection of architecture and ecology.

The symposium, "Design for Biodiversity: Architectural Responses to Urban Ecology," includes a keynote lecture Feb. 1 at 6 p.m. by Michael Wells on "Biodiverse Urban Design in Theory and Practice," and three sessions on Feb. 2 with architects and urban ecologists.

Among the topics presenters will examine are architectural interventions for multispecies habitats as an evolutionary step beyond existing urban planning measures, such as policies promoting the preservation of species in and around cities.

Student workshops will be held Feb. 3 with symposium speakers.

Information: mac444@cornell.edu or http://tinyurl.com/aahweuq.