Mongrel Media

"Gerhard Richter Painting" at Cornell Cinema.

Music and art

The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art hosts singer-songwriter John Simon and art activities at an Art-Full Family Day, May 5, 10 a.m. to noon.

Admission to the event is free for museum members and $5 per family for nonmembers. Seating is limited. Information: 607-255-6464, museum@cornell.edu, http://museum.cornell.edu.

Student films

Digital videos by 13 students in the Introductory Documentary Workshop course will be shown Sunday, May 6, at 7:30 p.m. at Cornell Cinema's Willard Straight Theatre.

The documentarians tackled such subjects as anarchy, car sharing, alcoholism's effects on a family, money and conflict of interest, a cappella, mixed martial arts and a theater project at Auburn Prison.

On May 13, seven high-definition videos from student writer-directors in the Advanced Film and Video Production course will be shown at 7:30 p.m. The program includes five narrative films plus a documentary recently filmed in Cambodia by Elizabeth Davis and an experimental narrative project with original music by director John Eckhaus.

Tickets for each screening are $4.50 for students and $7 for the general public.

Cornell Cinema also screens the Ithaca premiere of the 2011 documentary "Gerhard Richter Painting," with insight into the artist's world and work, May 3 and 5 in Willard Straight Theatre and May 4 at Cinemapolis.

Three in one

The Cornell Symphony Orchestra will balance the old and the new with experimental and traditional orchestral works in concert Sunday, May 6, at 3 p.m. in Bailey Hall. Free and open to the public.

The premiere of Taylan Cihan's "An" for amplified accordion, orchestra and electronics will see the orchestra divided into three ensembles -- one on stage, conducted by Chris Younghoon Kim, and two in the balconies, directed by graduate composers Amit Gilutz and Niccolo Athens. The piece also features music lecturer Annie Lewandowski on accordion, and visuals by visiting lecturer in architecture Andrew Lucia. Cihan is a doctoral student at Cornell, studying composition with Steven Stucky and Roberto Sierra and electronic music and composition with Kevin Ernste.

The orchestra also performs Sergei Prokofiev's Fifth Symphony, considered the peak of the composer's career; it premiered in 1945 in Moscow.

Sustainability and energy

John M. Deutch, a former Cabinet member during the Clinton and Carter administrations and former provost of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), will lecture on "Benefits and Risks of Unconventional Oil and Gas Production in the United States," May 8, 11:15 a.m. in 155 Olin Hall. Free and open to the public.

Deutch chaired President Obama's Shale Gas Production Subcommittee of the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board, which released its final report Nov. 18, 2011, on improving the safety and environmental performance of hydraulic fracturing, a process used to release natural gas from shale deposits.

An emeritus professor at MIT, he has served as chair of the Department of Chemistry, dean of science and provost. During the Clinton administration, Deutch was director of the Central Intelligence Agency (1995-96), deputy secretary of defense (1994- 95) and undersecretary of defense for acquisitions and technology (1993- 94). He served in the Department of Energy during the Carter administration (1977-80) as undersecretary, director of energy research and acting assistant secretary for energy technology.

He is on the board of trustees of the Center for American Progress and Resources for the Future, the board of directors of Cheniere Energy Inc. and Raytheon and is a former board member of Schlumberger. His most recent book is "The Crisis in Energy Policy" (2011).

Deutch's talk is the inaugural presentation in a new speaker series as part of the David R. Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future's efforts to spotlight multiple viewpoints on sustainability issues. Information:

http://www.acsf.cornell.edu/events.

Natural resource

Cornell Plantations plans a weekend of activities May 11-13 to celebrate National Public Gardens Day Friday, May 11 -- a day of awareness promoting the important role for communities that public gardens have in promoting environmental stewardship and awareness, plant and water conservation and education.

Plantations is the only public garden in the central New York region and includes a mature botanical garden, an arboretum and a diverse network of nature preserves.

Activities May 11 include an 8 a.m. bird walk in Mundy Wildflower Garden and a noon botanical garden highlight tour. Plantations also offers free Gimme! Coffee May 11 at the Brian C. Nevin Welcome Center and Mother's Day specials of 10 and 15 percent off purchases May 12-13 in the garden gift shop.

Cornell Plantations is open and free to the public year-round, during daylight hours. The welcome center is open Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Information: 607-255-2400, http://cornellplantations.org.

Empowering women

The 2012 Empowering Women in Science and Engineering (EWISE) Conference will be held May 20-21 with speakers, workshops and networking opportunities at events in Rhodes, Olin and Duffield halls and the Statler Hotel.

The conference primarily targets women graduate students, postdocs, researchers and faculty in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields as a professional development opportunity. The event is a collaborative effort of Diversity Programs in Engineering, CU-ADVANCE and the Graduate School, and is supported by a grant from the President's Council of Cornell Women.

The registration deadline is May 11. Registration is free and includes meals and conference materials. Visit http://www.engineering.cornell.edu/diversity/events/ewise.cfm.