Richard Meier, architect of the Getty Center -- the $770 million arts and cultural complex under construction in the Santa Monica Mountains -- heads a list of distinguished artists, educators and critics who will offer insight into America's cultural climate and artistic professions during a symposium Oct. 4 and 5 at Cornell University. Meier is a 1957 graduate of Cornell's program in architecture.

The symposium is part of the 125th anniversary celebration of Cornell's College of Architecture, Art and Planning.

"We are thrilled to have attracted some of the foremost thinkers and practitioners in the fields of architecture, art and planning," said Architecture Department Chairman Kent Hubbell, the Nathaniel and Margaret Owings Distinguished Alumni Professor. "I expect this noteworthy gathering to uncover new ideas of how our professions will embrace the future."

Symposium presenters are:

• Henry N. Cobb, FAIA, founding principal of the New York firm Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, where he has served as principal design partner for various buildings and several urban planning projects, among them the John Hancock Tower in Boston and Credit Suisse First Boston headquarters at Canary Wharf in London. Cobb is former chairman of the Department of Architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and a recipient of the 1995 ACSA/AIA Topaz Medallion for Excellence in Architectural Education. He will present "The Future of Our Professions" Oct. 4 at 8 p.m. in Statler Auditorium, Statler Hall.
• Ann Markusen, the State of New Jersey Professor of Urban Planning and Policy Development and director of the Project on Regional and Industrial Economics at Rutgers University. A recipient of a Brookings Institution fellowship, Markusen has co-authored several books on high technology and American economic development, including Dismantling the Cold War Economy and High Tech America. She will speak Oct. 5 at 9 a.m. in David L. Call Alumni Auditorium, Kennedy Hall.
• Richard Meier, one of the world's most acclaimed and influential architects. In 1984 Meier become the youngest winner of the Pritzker Prize, often referred to as the Nobel Prize for architecture, and five years later became only the 13th American in 145 years to receive the Royal Gold Medal from the Royal Institute of British Architects. His works include the High Museum of Art in Atlanta and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Barcelona. In 1984 he landed his largest U.S. commission -- the Getty Center in Los Angeles. This $770 million arts center, which will house an art museum and offices of the Getty Trust and Conservation Institute, is being called one of the most ambitious cultural projects built in the United States. The project, already in the works for over a decade, is catapulting Meier to new celebrity status. Earlier this year, Architecture magazine devoted almost an entire issue to his work, and portrait photographer Annie Leibovitz shot Meier for a Vanity Fair piece. Meier will join Frank Stella, one of the leading pioneers in abstract art, in a discussion titled "Space, Form and Society" Oct. 5 at 1:30 p.m. in David L. Call Alumni Auditorium.
• Frank Stella, the American painter who moved from minimalist stripes to hot-colored abstractions, has received much attention for his newest work, an assemblage relief featured at the Guggenheim Museum's exhibition on abstraction. Recently, Stella has begun work on full-scale architectural projects, including museums in Germany and The Netherlands. In 1983, he was named the Charles Eliot Norton Professor of Poetry at Harvard.
• Arthur C. Danto, the Columbia University Johnsonian Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and art critic for The Nation, has published widely on issues of philosophy and aesthetics. Among his titles are Mysticism and Morality, a finalist for the 1972 National Book Award, and Encounters and Reflections, winner of the 1992 National Book Critics Circle Prize in Criticism. He will present "Art School and Society," Oct. 5 at 3 p.m. in David L. Call Auditorium.
• Herbert Muschamp, the architecture critic for The New York Times, is also the founder of the architecture and design criticism program at the Parsons School of Design. He is the author of numerous books, including Man About Town: Frank Lloyd Wright in New York City, File Under Architecture and The Site: Interview by Herbert Muschamp. He will speak Oct. 5 at 8:45 p.m. in Statler Auditorium.

Several art exhibitions are being held in conjunction with the College of Architecture, Art and Planning's 125th anniversary.

The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art features an exhibition of works by three alumni of the college -- Susan Rothenberg '67, Louise Lawler '69 and John Ahearn '73. Museum Director Franklin Robinson will present a gallery talk Oct. 4 at 4:30 p.m. in the museum lobby. The exhibition is on display through Oct. 13.

"John Hartell: Painting Through the Years" will be exhibited Sept. 17 through Oct. 19 at the Upstairs Gallery, 215 N. Clinton St., Ithaca. The exhibition features works of the late John Hartell, who was professor of architecture and art at Cornell for more than 35 years.

The exhibition "125 Years of Achievement," from the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections at Cornell's Carl A. Kroch Library, runs from Oct. 4 through Jan. 1, 1997, in the atrium of library. It documents the history of the college with vintage photographs, original manuscripts, drawings and memorabilia. It is sponsored by Lee S. Jablin '71.

All events are open to the public on a space-available basis. Free tickets for the lectures will be required. They will be available after Sept. 16. at Clinton House Ticket Center on North Cayuga Street, Ithaca, and at the Information and Referral Center in Day Hall on the Cornell campus. For additional information, contact the College of Architecture, Art and Planning, (607) 255-7510.