Things to Do, April 22-29, 2016

Trial by Jury
Chad Dumont
Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Trial by Jury,” April 23 at Cornell Law School and April 24 at the Tompkins County Courthouse, stars, in gender-reversed roles, Lilia Farris as Edwin and Andrew Hudson-Sabens as Angelina.

Collaborative art in practice

Artist Caroline Woolard leads an informal gallery walk-through and conversation about “Free, Libre, Open Source Systems and Art” (FLOSSA), her one-week exhibition in the Olive Tjaden Hall’s Tjaden and Experimental Galleries, during a gallery reception April 22 from 5 to 7 p.m. The exhibition is free and open to the public, and closes April 23.

Woolard co-creates art, furniture and institutions for the new economy, and in March she worked with students to create the large sculptural objects in FLOSSA. The reception, hosted by the Cornell Council for the Arts (CCA), also marks the beginning of the 2016 CCA Biennial: “Abject/Object Empathies,” with campus-wide exhibits and related events this fall. Woolard is among the invited Biennial artists participating.

“The Socratic Method X Musical Chairs,” a roundtable conversation with Medium Design Collective, another of Woolard’s collaborators, begins at 4:30 p.m. in the Experimental Gallery. The roundtable will engage Cornell faculty and students in a discussion about the role of empathy as a mediator of communication in interdisciplinary practices and collaborative making. Three students from different disciplines collaborated remotely with Woolard on the design and production of the table that the Medium team created, and will be used for the discussion.

Risley Renaissance Faire

Wizards, elves, tradesmen and maidens will be on hand at the Risley Renaissance Faire, Sunday, April 24, from noon to 4 p.m. in and around Risley Hall. The all-ages event is free and open to the public.

In addition to a costume contest with prizes (fanciful, handmade or otherwise appropriate period attire is strongly encouraged), the faire features jousting, juggling, a Maypole dance, sword-fighting (sparring with padded weapons), live Renaissance and medieval music, crafts such as spinning wool into yarn and leatherworking, games and other activities. The entertainment includes performances by Ring of Steel and the Cornell Celtic Club.

The faire is hosted by Risley Residential College and co-sponsored by Cornell’s Residential Student Congress. For more information or accommodations, email emb363@cornell.edu

Love and the law

The Cornell Savoyards will stage two performances of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Trial By Jury,” April 23 at 7:30 p.m. in Cornell Law School’s Moot Courtroom and April 24 at 2 p.m. at the Tompkins County Courthouse, 320 N. Tioga St., Ithaca. Tickets are $15 general, $10 for students, at the door. To reserve tickets, email savoyardsithaca@gmail.com.

Deconstructing law and love and contrasting traditional and reverse-gender casting, the Savoyards production honors the 140th anniversary of “Trial by Jury,” Gilbert and Sullivan’s first successful collaboration, and Cornell Law School’s 130th anniversary. It is paired with Act II of “Engaged,” W.S. Gilbert’s 1878 farce on Victorian marriage. The company, formerly the Cornell Savoyards, has performed Gilbert and Sullivan, European light opera and classic American musicals in the Ithaca area since 1953.

Compost Fair

Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) of Tompkins County’s 2016 Compost Fair, April 24 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 615 Willow Ave., Ithaca, will feature demonstrations of composting techniques, the 4-H Duck Race & Color Splash Run and other activities, and is free and open to the public. All attendees are eligible to win compost prizes.

Organized by the CCE Master Composters class, the “Compost love-a-Fair” includes continuous tours of CCE’s demonstration site, live music, food, activities for children and presentations by partner organizations and sustainability groups. Compost bins (Earth Machines, welded wire cylinder, worm compost) will be for sale.

Top attorney speaks

Mediation attorney Kenneth R. Feinberg will deliver the ILR School’s 2016 Milton Konvitz Memorial Lecture, Monday, April 25, at 4:30 p.m. in 105 Ives Hall. The talk is free and open to the public.

Feinberg has served as an appointed legal authority overseeing the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund in 2001, and the victim assistance fund in the wake of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings. He also led settlements in litigation over Agent Orange and the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, and is currently overseeing the compensation of up to 600,000 Volkswagen diesel owners in the U.S. affected by the car company’s deceptive emissions testing practices. His talk is titled “Unconventional Responses to Unique Catastrophes: Tailoring the Law to Meet the Challenges.”

Feinberg is the Steven and Maureen Klinsky Professor of Practice for Leadership and Progress at Harvard Law School.

Gypsies, earthworks and the Dude

Cornell Cinema shows the historical drama “Aferim!” April 21 and 23 at 7 p.m. in Willard Straight Theatre, cosponsored with the Cornell Institute for European Studies. The tale of a fugitive Gypsy slave in early 19th century Wallachia, the film won a Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival and was Romania’s submission for Best Foreign Film Oscar this year.

Also showing: “Troublemakers, the Story of Land Art,” about three pioneering artists (Robert Smithson, Walter De Maria and Michael Heizer) who fled New York City’s 1960s-70s gallery scene to make the land of the American Southwest their largest canvas. The film, screening April 22 and 24, examines their legacy with archival footage and aerial cinematography.

Just announced: A party and screening with “The Big Lebowski” on Friday, April 29 in the Willard Straight Memorial Room, with mock White Russians, bowling décor and munchies; admission is $8 and tickets are available at CornellCinemaTickets.com.

‘Taking on Big Soda’

Food and nutrition policy expert Marion Nestle discusses the multibillion-dollar global soda industry and its impact on public health, in the last Chats in the Stacks book talk of the semester, April 27 at 4 p.m. in Mann Library’s Stern Seminar Room.

In “Soda Politics: Taking on Big Soda (and Winning)” (2015), Nestle details how the soft drink industry works overtime to make drinking soda as common as drinking water for adults and children. She is a visiting professor in Cornell’s Department of Nutritional Sciences, and a professor of sociology and the Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University.

Sponsored by Cornell University Library, Chats in the Stacks are free and open to the public, with refreshments served and books available for purchase.

Buildings and wellness

Jessica Rose Cooper ’07 will deliver the biennial Glenn H. Beyer Memorial Lecture, “A Path Towards Holistic Sustainability, From Environmental to Human Health,” April 27 at 5 p.m. in 120 Physical Science.

Cooper, the executive vice president and director of sustainability at Delos, will share emerging innovations and research about designing buildings specifically to support the health and wellness of the people who live, work and learn in them. She will also detail the WELL Building Standard, the first protocol of its kind to focus exclusively on human health and well-being in the built environment.

Presented by the Department of Design and Environmental Analysis, the event is free and open to the public, and will feature the department’s student awards.

Media Contact

Daryl Lovell