Johnson Museum

Katherine Knauer's "New New York Beauty" (2006) is among the studio art quilts on display at the Johnson Museum from the collection of Jack Walsh '58.

Fiddlers frolic

Four women fiddlers from four different musical traditions combine their talents for the Panache Quartet, who play the final free summer concert on Cornell’s Arts Quad, Aug. 1 at 7 p.m.

Cape Breton fiddler Andrea Beaton, Franco-American fiddler Donna Hébert, Southern-style fiddler Jane Rothfield and Québecois fiddler Véronique Plasse play a staggering repertoire of traditional tunes, plus original music that has become part of the living tradition.

Free summer events at Cornell are sponsored by the School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions.

Seeing stars

See stars, Mars, Saturn, nebulae and much more, up close, far out and personal during weekly stargazing tours of the night sky at historic Fuertes Observatory on North Campus. Hosted by the Cornell Astronomical Society on Fridays when skies are clear, the viewing nights are free and open to the public.

Look through the observatory’s telescopes with informed guides providing insight into celestial wonders. Parking is available at the Appel Commons lot across from the observatory on Cradit Farm Road. Call 255-3557 to learn if the observatory will be open on a given Friday.

Sacred world music

A performance blending classical Indian music, Gregorian chant and contemporary world music comes to Barnes Hall Auditorium Saturday, Aug. 2, at 8 p.m. Free and open to the public.

The concert program, “Sacred and Luminous: Interweaving Threads of Gregorian Chant & Indian Raga,” will feature flutist Steve Gorn, accompanied by singer/harpist Jayne Demakos and cellist Elizabeth Simkin.

Paleo symposium

Professionals, students and amateurs will present their research in paleontology, earth science, biology and science education at the Paleontological Research Institution’s Eighth Annual Summer Symposium, Aug. 2.

Linda Ivany of Syracuse University is the symposium’s keynote speaker. Breakfast, lunch and an evening barbecue are included with registration.

Gordon Baird of SUNY Fredonia will lead a field trip from PRI focused on the Finger Lakes region’s Devonian geological history, Aug. 3 from 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

‘Bold by Design’

Studio art quilts with vibrant abstract and geometric designs from the collection of John M. “Jack” Walsh III ’58, are featured in “Bold by Design,” continuing through Aug. 17 at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art. Free and open to the public.

Walsh’s collection of contemporary and nontraditional quilts includes work by some of the best artists in the field, such as Nancy Crow, Michael James, Pamela Studstill and Carol Schepps.

Sharing a complementary visual kinship to Walsh’s quilts, mid-20th-century prints from the museum’s collection, along with antique quilts from the 19th and 20th centuries, are also on display. “Bold By Design,” in the Gold, Moak, Class of 1953 and Schaenen galleries, is curated by Cathy Klimaszewski, the museum’s associate director and the Harriett Ames Charitable Trust Curator of Education.

Later this month, the Johnson Museum opens new fall exhibitions, including “Jie (Boundaries):  Contemporary Art from Taiwan,” Aug. 16-Dec. 21; and “Surrealism and Magic,” Aug. 30-Dec. 21.

Brewing in Mann Library

Got wort? Farmers, artisans and scientists capture images of their work in New York state’s growing production of craft beer, wine, cider and other beverages in “From Ground to Glass,” a community-sourced photography exhibition through Oct. 31 in the Mann Library Gallery.

Also on display, in the Mann Library lobby: “For a Quart of Ale Is a Dish Fit for a King,” on the history of the craft beer movement and hops production in New York, home to some of the earliest breweries in North America, through Nov. 30.

Both exhibits are free and open to the public.