Wynn Yarrow

"Abundance" by Wynn Yarrow, a landscape artist with a new exhibition opening at Cornell Plantations with a reception Aug. 7 in the Nevin Welcome Center.

Free concerts

The Cornell Summer Events Series wraps up this week with a pair of free musical performances on campus.

“Journey West,” Aug. 2 at 7:30 p.m. in the Klarman Hall Auditorium, follows the migration of musical forms from countries of origin to distant lands – tracking melodies and instrumentation starting in the Middle East, and traveling throughout Europe and to the New World. The program is performed by ensemble director Max Buckholtz, Dara Anissi, Mark Weinand, Chad Lieberman and Nikolai Ruskin.

Local gypsy swing band Djug Django plays a concert on the Arts Quad for dancers and other music lovers Friday, Aug. 5, at 7 p.m. The ensemble’s repertoire features the music of guitarist Django Reinhardt, jazz standards, New Orleans soul and original songs by multi-instrumentalist Dave Davies.

The free events series is sponsored by the School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions.

Art and science workshops

Explore science topics and learn new art techniques at Art and Science Summer Smashup, a summer workshop series at the Cornell-affiliated Paleontological Research Institution and Museum of the Earth, 1259 Trumansburg Road (Route 96), Ithaca.

Different featured artists lead the art-centric classes each week. Barbara Page, who created the museum’s “Rock of Ages, Sands of Time” tile exhibit, leads the Aug. 4 class from 1-3 p.m., on creating bas-relief panels with fossils.

Other Thursday art project workshops include: scientific illustration, Aug 11, 1-3 p.m.; real monster models in 3-D, Aug. 18; faux fossil sea scorpion pendants, Aug 25, 1-4 p.m.; and fiber art trilobite color wheels, Sept. 1 from 1-5 p.m.

The workshop fee (charged in addition to museum admission) is $7, $5 for members, and covers the cost of materials. Space is limited; pre-register online, by email (bickley@priweb.org) or phone (607-273-6623 ext. 13), or at the museum admission desk.

Fuertes Fridays

The Cornell Astronomical Society hosts public viewing hours for stargazing on Friday evenings throughout the summer at the Fuertes Observatory on North Campus.

If skies are clear, the telescopes will be pointed at the moon, Mars, Saturn, galaxies and more. Society members also lead tours of the observatory and its collection of historic instruments regardless of weather. The observatory will be open 8 p.m. to midnight. For a recorded message updated with the status of viewing hours, call 607-255-3557.

Exhibition hockey

The Racker Rivals Big Red exhibition hockey fundraiser, Saturday, Aug. 6, at 5 p.m. in Lynah Rink, will feature Cornell coaches, community members and celebrity players. The event raises money to support Racker Centers’ programs for people with disabilities in the community.

Featured celebrity alumni players include 2014 Olympic gold medalist Lauriane Rougeau and Stanley Cup winners Joe Nieuwendyk, Kevyn Adams (also gold medalists) and Dustin Brown.

A family skate, kids’ activities and barbecue will precede the game from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance (ages 3 and under free), available online or at Tompkins Trust Co. branches in Ithaca and Trumansburg. $15 at the door. For information, call 607-272-5891, ext. 244.

Artist reception

Cornell Plantations hosts an artist reception for the exhibition “Wynn Yarrow: Genius Loci” Aug. 7, from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Nevin Welcome Center, 124 Comstock Knoll Road.

Yarrow paints landscapes as metaphors for the inner life. She is drawn to transitions in nature: shifts in season, light and the sky; and calls on memory, imagination and intuition to create landscapes that resonate with the spirit of place, or genius loci.

Startup Demo Day

Rev: Ithaca Startup Works presents the second annual Rev Hardware Accelerator Demo Day, Aug. 11 from 6 to 9 p.m. in G10 Biotechnology. A Demo Day presentation and team pitches will be held at 7 p.m.

The free event,  “Making Meets Business,” is open to the community and features work by hardware accelerator teams to move their product ideas from concept to prototype. Each team received support from Rev mentors and technical instructors this summer, with access to Rev’s Prototyping Shop and up to $2,000 in materials to use in creating their prototypes.