Provided/Johnson Museum

"Grand Westfield Porch," one of several paintings of regional scenes by Alice Dalton Brown on display at the Johnson Museum. Dalton Brown will attend the museum's Summer Party, July 12.

Free summer events

Selected events are listed below from Cornell’s free summer events series, continuing through Aug. 2 and sponsored by the School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions. More information and a complete schedule. 

Music and performance

Hardin Burns, the duo of singer/songwriter Jeannie Burns (of The Burns Sisters Band) and blues guitarist Andrew Hardin, will perform July 5 on Cornell’s Arts Quad. Free and open to the public.

Free Friday concerts on the Arts Quad also include GoGone, original roots-rock and blues, July 12; Caribbean dance music with Rising Sign, July 19; Evil City String Band, with traditional old-time music and original songs, July 26; and the Andrew and Noah Band, alternative folk, Aug. 2.

Ithaca College choreographer Lindsay Gilmour presents a free dance concert, “Dance and Decay,” July 9, 7:30 p.m. at the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts.

Free Tuesday performances at the Schwartz Center this summer will feature local jazz/folk group Rockwood Ferry, July 16; Tango de Cámara, a chamber ensemble from the Ithaca College School of Music, July 23; and master fiddlers David Kaynor and George Wilson, July 30.

Social media revolution

Assistant professor of communication Lee H. Humphreys will explore the ways Facebook, Twitter and other social media have changed the way we present ourselves to others in her lecture “Social Media: Origins, Opportunities and Risks,” Wednesday, July 17, 7:30 p.m. in Statler Auditorium. Free and open to the public.

Humphreys also will look at how such communications compare with letters and diaries used in the past, the privacy issues raised by contemporary communication technologies, and what risks and opportunities we should be aware of when we use them.

More Wednesday lectures in Cornell’s free summer events series: Kim Brown Bixler, “Growing Up in a Frank Lloyd Wright House,” July 10; Walter Stahr, “William H. Seward: Abraham Lincoln’s Indispensable Man,” July 24; and Shimon Edelman, “The Happiness of Pursuit: Machineries of Joy,” July 31.

Garden, party

Artists Kumi Korf, Alice Dalton Brown and Alan Chimacoff ’63, Arch. ’64, will be on hand to discuss their work at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art’s annual Summer Party, Friday, July 12, from 5 to 7 p.m. Free and open to the public. The event features new exhibitions, refreshments, activities and more throughout the museum.

Architect and photographer Chimacoff created a photographic essay celebrating the museum’s architecture for the exhibition “JAMuse: The Johnson Museum Turns 40,” on display through Sept. 1. “Paper Play by Kumi Korf: Prints, Collages and Artist’s Books” continues through Aug. 4; and “Summer Breeze: Paintings and Drawings by Alice Dalton Brown” runs through Aug. 18.

Poet Peter Fortunato will lead “Poetry in the Garden” writing workshops July 11 and 18 from 2-3:30 p.m. in the museum’s Morgan Japanese Garden.

The author of “Late Morning: New and Selected Poems” will help participants cultivate the creative state known as “beginner’s mind,” a relaxed state of openness, in a series of writing exercises. No experience is necessary; bring your favorite handwriting tools. Fees are $15 per session. Space is limited; registration and payment are requested by Monday, July 8. Call 607-255-6464 to register.
Information: http://museum.cornell.edu

Under the stars

Cornell Cinema screens the 1988 Tom Hanks comedy “Big” in its Cinema Under the Stars series, Wednesday, July 10, on the Willard Straight Hall Terrace. The film starts at 9:30 p.m., doors open at 8:30.

The series concludes July 24 with “The Philadelphia Story,” director George Cukor’s 1940 romantic comedy with Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn and James Stewart.

Terrace screenings feature a cash bar and complimentary snacks. Tickets are $12, $10 for students and senior citizens. Advance tickets are recommended, available at http://CornellCinemaTickets.com and held for pickup the night of the show.

Information: http://cinema.cornell.edu

Comedy, tragedy

The Ithaca Shakespeare Company will stage two Shakespeare plays, “Othello” and “Much Ado About Nothing,” in July at Cornell Plantations. The tragedy and the comedy both explore the nature and consequences of jealousy, “the green-eyed monster.”

Performances are Thursday through Sunday evenings, July 1-14, 18-21 and 25-28, at 6 p.m. in Jackson Grove, F.R. Newman Arboretum. Admission is a $10 suggested donation, or pay what you can.

Bring lawn chairs, blankets and an umbrella; performances will continue during rain, but may be halted in severe weather.

Information: ithacashakespeare.org

Theory lectures

The School of Criticism and Theory’s lecture series features four more speakers in July. All lectures begin at 4 p.m. in Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall, and are free and open to the public. They are:

• “Walt Whitman and the Affective Field of Democracy,” Jane Bennett, professor of political science at Johns Hopkins University, July 8.
• “Alternative Modernities? A View From the South,” Akeel Bilgrami
, professor of philosophy and global thought at Columbia University, July 9.
• “Intellectual Disability and Narrative Self-Reflexivity,” Michael Bérubé
, director, Pennsylvania State University’s Institute for the Arts and Humanities, July 15.
• “Emotional Life in a Neurobiological Age: On Wonder,” Catherine Malabou
, professor, Kingston University’s Center For Modern European Philosophy, July 16.

Information: http://sct.arts.cornell.edu/‎

Folk artists

WVBR's “Bound for Glory” presents four more concerts this summer, live from the Anabel Taylor Café, Sunday nights from 8-11 p.m.

Adirondack native Dan Berggren performs July 7, and Jim Gaudet and the Railroad Boys play bluegrass and more July 14. Eric Garrison returns for the first time in nearly 15 years on July 21, and Magpie, the duo of Greg Artzner and Terry Leonino, close the summer season July 28.

Admission is free and open to all ages, or listen live on WVBR-FM 93.5 or online at http://wvbr.com

Aug. 4-25 host Phil Shapiro will play albums from the studios, and the 47th season of “Bound for Glory” presents live concerts starting Sept. 1.

Staff Development Day

The 15th Annual Staff Development Day (formerly Staff Education Exploration Day, or S.E.E.D.) will be held Wednesday, July 24, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. in G10 Biotechnology Building.

Several workshops and more than 27 exhibitors at Staff Development Day will give Cornell employees opportunities to invest in their personal and professional growth and well-being. The day’s events will center on various aspects of education exploration, including earning a degree while working, professional development, and wellness and community in the workplace.

More information: https://hr.cornell.edu/life/career/seed.html