Provided/Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art

"Yalyalji and Malngirri," a 2006 painting by indigenous artist Ngarra, is among modern aboriginal art on display this summer at the Johnson Museum.

Aboriginal abstracts

Paintings by nine prominent indigenous artists from western Australia are featured in a summer exhibition at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art.

“No Boundaries: Aboriginal Australian Contemporary Abstract Painting” runs through Aug. 14 in the Bartels, Gold and Moak galleries. Museum hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and admission is free.

The paintings express ancestral kinships and worldviews, record the artists’ personal histories and challenge assumptions about abstraction. The traveling exhibition originated at the Nevada Museum of Art and is drawn from the collection of Debra and Dennis Scholl.

Also on display at the Johnson: “American Sojourns and the Collecting of Japanese Art,” through Dec. 18; “15 Minutes: Exposing Dimensions of Fame,” curated by students in the History of Art Majors Society, through July 24; and the laser light installation “Matthew Schreiber: Crossbow,” through Aug. 28.

Wisdom of love

Gerontologist Karl Pillemer will share “Advice from the Oldest (and Wisest) Americans About Love, Relationships and Marriage” July 6 at 7 p.m. in Kennedy Hall’s Call Auditorium. His lecture is free and open to the public as part of the School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions’ free summer events series.

Pillemer is director of the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research, the Hazel E. Reed Professor of Human Development in the College of Human Ecology and professor of gerontology in medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine. In his talk, he will draw on a wide range of voices and elders’ wisdom to illuminate the path to lifelong, fulfilling relationships.

He is the author of “30 Lessons for Living,” a compilation of advice and stories from older Americans, and “30 Lessons for Loving.” The latter book is based on interviews with 700 long-married elders, on how they have sustained, nurtured and enjoyed successful relationships and marriages, keeping the spark alive for a half-century or more.

Cornell’s free summer events run through Aug. 5 with performances in Klarman Hall, lectures in Call Auditorium and concerts on the Arts Quad. For more information, call 607-255-4987 or e-mail cusce@cornell.edu. For disability accommodations at an event, contact Katy Heine at 607-255-8226.

Theory lecture series

The School of Criticism and Theory (SCT) holds public lectures on campus each summer in conjunction with its six-week program of seminars on critical theory with leading humanities scholars and social scientists. Lectures begin at 4 p.m. in Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall. The full schedule is online.

The series features lectures by each of SCT’s 2016 faculty including Harvard University Dean of Arts and Humanities Diana Sorensen, speaking July 5; anthropologist Matthew Engelke of the London School of Economics and Political Science (July 12), and criminologist Renata Salecl (July 18) of the University of London School of Law and the Institute of Criminology, Faculty of Law at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Guest lecturers include Timothy Murray (July 25), the Taylor Family Director of the Society for the Humanities, curator of the Rose Goldsen Archive of New Media Art, and Cornell professor of comparative literature and English.

SCT’s director is Hent de Vries, director of the Humanities Center at Johns Hopkins University.

Staff Development Day

The 18th annual Staff Development Day will be held Wednesday, July 27, in the Physical Sciences Building.

The event offers Cornell employees various opportunities to invest in their personal and professional growth and well-being, in areas including education, professional development, wellness and community in the workplace.

A showcase of resources for staff will be held 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the building’s Clark Atrium. Workshops in concurrent sessions occur throughout the day, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Botanical Garden tours

Take a guided tour through Cornell Plantations’ Botanical Garden to discover the beauty and diversity of numerous theme gardens, including the herb garden, flower garden, groundcover collection, tropical container display and more.

Tours are offered every Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m.; meet at the Nevin Welcome Center. Tour content will vary from week to week depending on what’s in bloom and the interests of the group.