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Cornell Plantations will celebrate National Public Gardens Day (May 9) with bird walks and other activities May 9-11.

Public Gardens Day

Cornell Plantations celebrates National Public Gardens Day (May 9) with a weekend of activities May 9-11. Now in its sixth year, the event invites communities to visit and learn about the important role their public gardens play in promoting environmental stewardship, awareness and education; and plant and water conservation.

Admission at Plantations is free; the Nevin Welcome Center is open Tuesday-Sunday from 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m.; free parking is available.

May 9 activities include a morning bird walk at 8 a.m. in F.R. Newman Arboretum (meet by the Sculpture Garden); a Botanical Garden highlights tour at noon; a “Sustainable Backyard” tour at 2 p.m.; and a 5-7 p.m. reception for the Margaret Corbit exhibition “Plant Portraits Through the Seasons” in the Welcome Center. The gift shop also offers one-day-only discounts on most items and a free cup of Gimme! Coffee.

Local artist Camille Doucent teaches watercolor techniques in the Botanical Garden May 10, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. “The Art of Nature: A Kaleidoscope of Plants” costs $70, $60 for Cornell students and Plantations members; register online.

May 11 at 2 p.m., Plantations docents will lead a 90-minute “Birds and Blossoms” wildflower walk through Sapsucker Woods. Meet at the Lab of Ornithology’s Visitor Center; rain or shine.

MFA reading

Graduate student writers will read from their work May 10 at 3 p.m. in Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall. Free and open to the public.

The 2014 MFA Graduation Reading features fiction writers Karen Elterman, Isabelle Gilbert, Joseph Neal and Valer Popa, and poets Aricka Foreman, Emily Oliver, Hajara Quinn and Kenneth Yuen.

Following the reading, a reception will be held in the English Department Lounge, 258 Goldwin Smith Hall. The reading is sponsored by the Creative Writing Program and the Department of English.

‘Frozen’ sing-along

Cornell Cinema presents the sing-along version of Disney’s animated musical fantasy “Frozen,” May 9-10 in Willard Straight Theatre, and invites moviegoers to follow the bouncing snowflake on subtitled lyrics. The 2013 film features the voices of Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel; recommended for ages 5 and up.

Also at Cornell Cinema this week: the classic 1967 drama “The Graduate,” with Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft, May 15 at 7:30 p.m.; and “The Lego Movie,” May 9-11 and May 14, with the voices of Will Ferrell, Elizabeth Banks and Chris Pratt. The 9 p.m. screening May 14 is $2 for Cornell graduate students. Regular Cinema admission is $5-$8.

Contra dance

The Cornell Contra Dance Club hosts a New England-style contra dance with the band Giant Robot Dance and caller Sarah Van Norstrand, May 10 from 8-11 p.m. in the Willard Straight Hall Memorial Room. Admission is $5 general, $2 for students.

A free contra dance workshop begins at 7:30 p.m.; beginners are welcome. Advanced contra dance is from 4-6 p.m. No partner needed, casual dress, open to all ages.

‘Bound for Glory’

Singer-songwriter Michael Jerling returns Sunday, May 11, to “Bound for Glory,” broadcast live on WVBR-FM from Anabel Taylor Hall Café.

The radio concert series is in its 47th year. All live shows are free and open to the public. “Bound for Glory” airs from 8-11 p.m. Sundays on WVBR, 93.5 FM, and streams live at http://www.wvbr.com.

Students show art, fashion

Four BFA ’14 art students are exhibiting their work in a pair of joint thesis shows hosted by the College of Architecture, Art and Planning this week: Sara Seyoung Cha and Larisa-Marie Tracy, in “things happened and you didn’t know it, so it didn’t matter,” May 12-16 in Olive Tjaden Gallery; and McCrea Davison and Anastasia Koronowski Allwine, May 12-16 in Olive Tjaden Hall’s Experimental Gallery.

Also, “Crystal,” a fashion promotion and presentation project by fiber science and apparel design students Rebecca Dugal and Relicque Lott, is on display through May 30 in the Human Ecology Building (HEB)’s Jill Stuart Gallery. (“Chinese Traditional Dress and Its Influence, 1840-1960,” curated from the Cornell Costume and Textile Collection, also continues through May 30, in HEB’s Elizabeth Schmeck Brown Costume and Textile Gallery.)

All exhibitions are free and open to the public.

‘Fuertes Revisited’

Writer Mia Boynton will talk about her research for a biography of her grandfather, bird artist Louis Agassiz Fuertes, May 12 at 7:30 p.m. in the Cornell Lab of Ornithology Auditorium. Free and open to the public.

In “Fuertes Revisited: A Bird Artist in his Setting,” Boynton will discuss the business realities Fuertes faced as a bird artist in the early 20th century, his sources of inspiration, and ways he survived adversity. Copies of the book will be available for purchase.

The event is part of the Cayuga Bird Club’s 100-year anniversary celebration. Refreshments are served at 7:15 p.m., followed by a brief club meeting and Boynton’s presentation.