Schwartz Plaza celebration

The Department of Performing and Media Arts (PMA) celebrates the reopening of Schwartz Plaza, Aug. 26 at noon in front of the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts.

The renovated public space, with a landscaped patio and seating, will host performances and events. The celebration features live entertainment with faculty and student performances, and opening remarks by PMA chair Nick Salvato. A time-lapse film of the renovation by Daniel Chamberlain ’18 will be shown on a continuous loop in the Schwartz Center lobby.

“Entrances,” directed by senior lecturer Jumay Chu, features dancers Tucker Davis ’20, graduate student Mariaenrica Giannuzzi, Erin Grohe ’19, Niara Hardister ’18 and Deanna Myskiw ’18, and musicians Shay Collins ’18 and Sergey Levitskiy ’09, BFA’16.

“Relentless Women,” directed by senior lecturer Byron Suber, features dancers Maria Congenie ’20, Niara Hardister ’18, Brynn Richter ’19, Gray Ryan ’18 and Alexis Vinzons ’19, and music by Bach and Son Lux.

PMA students kick off the semester Aug. 26 at 7:30 p.m. with Festival24, a free evening of theater, film and dance in the Flex Theatre. Original pieces are written, choreographed, cast and rehearsed over the 24 hours prior to the performance. Organizers suggest arriving 15-20 minutes before doors open at 7 p.m.

Jazz combo

Associate professor of music James Spinazzola and friends will perform an eclectic set of new music for jazz combo, Aug. 27 at 7 p.m. in the loft at the Carriage House Café, 305 Stewart Ave. Presented by the Department of Music, the performance is free and open to the public.

The ensemble features musicians from Ithaca, New York City, Rochester and Syracuse. Joining saxophonist and composer Spinazzola are Paul Merrill, the Gussman Director of Jazz Ensembles, on trumpet; visiting lecturer Melissa Gardiner on trombone; cellist Lizzy Lyon; pianist Julian Garvue; bassist Peter Chwazik; and drummer Tom Killian.

The art of the book

Printers and artists have long used the book as a medium to communicate ideas, preserve personal and cultural narratives, challenge conventions of form, examine the past and imagine the future.

A new exhibition in Carl A. Kroch Library explores the art of the book with a display of fine printing, artists’ books and other rare editions drawn from Cornell collections. “Wake the Form: Artists’ Books in Context” is on display through Oct. 20 in Hirshland Gallery, open weekdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Traditional and nontraditional examples of book arts highlight items from contemporary collections in Cornell University Library’s Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, the Fine Arts Library and the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, alongside rare volumes and historical documents.

The exhibition includes several volumes of fine press and artists’ books donated to the library and museum by Paul ’60 and Helen ’62 Anbinder.

Theater auditions

Students, faculty and staff can audition for upcoming productions at the Schwartz Center, Aug. 29 at 7 p.m. in the Flex Theatre. Productions include the 10-Minute Playfest, “Bad Jews” by Joshua Harmon and “Hamlet Wakes Up Late” by Mamduh Adwan.

Actors are asked to prepare a one-minute monologue and sign up online for an audition time. Callbacks will be Aug. 30-31. For more information, email Pam Lillard, director of productions and events, at psl1@cornell.edu.

International Fair

Undergraduate and graduate students will find information on global learning opportunities on campus and abroad and many options available to internationalize their Cornell experience at an International Fair, Aug. 30 from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the Uris Hall Terrace. Admission is free.

Students can explore international majors and minors and learn about study abroad options, service learning, language instruction, internships, funding and fellowships. Faculty and staff will share details of programs offered.

President Martha E. Pollack and Laura Spitz, vice provost for international affairs, will be on hand to interact with students, faculty and staff.

The fair is organized by the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies, Cornell Abroad and the Language Resource Center. For more information, email IntlFair@cornell.edu.

Behind the union label

An exhibition opening Aug. 31, “Union-Made: Fashioning America in the 20th Century,” offers a survey of 20th-century fashion trends alongside the history of garment-union efforts. Laborers and unionization played an important role in improving working conditions, compensation and promotion of the American ready-to-wear fashion industry, and in improving the quality of garments made in the United States. 

An opening reception, 4:30 p.m. Aug. 31 in the Human Ecology Building, Terrace Level T, will include a tour by curators, refreshments and an a cappella rendition of “Look for the Union Label” performed by The Chai Notes. The event is open to the public.

On display through Nov. 3 in the Human Ecology display cases and at the Kheel Center in Catherwood Library, Ives Hall, the exhibit is a collaboration between the Cornell Costume and Textile Collection in the College of Human Ecology and the Kheel Center, part of Cornell University Library.

From ‘Twin Peaks’ to the Black Lagoon

Cornell Cinema kicks off a David Lynch series this week with the Ithaca premiere of a new documentary about the acclaimed director, and begins a semester-long “3D Movie Extravaganza” with a new 3-D digital projection system in Willard Straight Theatre.

“David Lynch: The Art Life,” directed by Jon Nguyen and Rick Barnes, screens Aug. 31 at 9:30 p.m. and Sept. 3 at 7 p.m. The series also features “Mulholland Dr.” (2001), Sept. 3; “The Short Films of David Lynch,” Sept. 5, with new digital restorations of four films made between 1968 and 1974 and “Premonitions Following an Evil Deed” (1995); Lynch’s 1977 debut feature “Eraserhead,” Sept. 7 and 10; and the 1992 prequel “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me,” Sept. 23-24.

The 3-D films being featured are Alfred Hitchcock’s “Dial M for Murder” (1954) with Grace Kelly, Aug. 31 and Sept. 2; “Pina,” Wim Wenders’ 2011 profile of dancer Pina Bausch, Sept. 13 and 16; Johnnie To’s 2015 musical comedy “Office,” Sept. 22 and 24; “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” Oct. 13; Jean-Luc Godard’s 2014 “cinematic brain teaser” “Goodbye to Language,” Oct. 4 and 6; Alfonso Cuaron’s “Gravity” (2013), Oct. 27; and “The Creature from the Black Lagoon” (1954), Nov. 9 and 11.

Creek tales

Supplying water to the City of Ithaca, Six Mile Creek has a rich and varied history. It has been used for pleasure and recreation, industry and profit for more than 200 years.

The History Center in Tompkins County, 401 E. State St., presents a talk on the sights and sounds of Six Mile Creek past and present, Sept. 1 at 6 p.m. The event, in conjunction with the exhibit “The Altered and Preserved Landscape” and First Friday Gallery Night in Ithaca, is free and open to the public.

The presentation features historical perspective from the creators of the Six Mile Creek interactive project. They are Kim Haines-Eitzen, a Cornell professor of Near Eastern studies and religious studies who has studied photography and natural sound recording; photographer and retired teacher Susan C. Larkin; and Timothy Larkin of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology IT staff.