'Shelf Life'

Assistant professor of art Maria Park's "Shelf Life" is on display through Sept. 28 in the Milstein Hall Gallery. The installation explores nature and culture through paintings, objects and the arrangement of objects and books on shelving.

Park's current work is featured alongside work selected from her series "Counter Nature" (2010--11), presenting encounters with nature against nostalgic visual conventions of landscape and media-disseminated images.

A reception for the exhibition will be Sept. 6, 5-7 p.m. Free and open to the public. Information: aapgalleries@cornell.edu

Suicide prevention walk

The Out of the Darkness Community Walk, Sept. 8, 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. in Cass Park, Ithaca, will support the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Participation in the walk is free, and all are welcome. Check-in is 10-11 a.m.

The event includes guest speakers, information from Suicide Prevention and Crisis Services in Ithaca, singers from a local church, music and food. All proceeds from the event will go to suicide education and prevention on the local and national levels. To register, donate or learn more, visit http://www.outofthedarkness.org or contact Cornell University Police Officer Ellen Brewer at 607-255-1111 or efb5@cornell.edu. Help raise awareness, learn about prevention or move forward on your own path to healing.

Co-sponsored by Cornell University Police, with additional support from Cornell's Division of Human Resources and Safety Services, Office of the Judicial Administrator, Building Care and Gannett Health Services.

Eco-cruise

The Cayuga Lake Floating Classroom hosts Cornell's Genetically Engineered Machines club on a public eco-cruise Sunday, Sept. 9, 2-4 p.m. on the M.V. Haendel.

Club members will explain their project to use cellular machines to test for the presence of fracking chemicals and other pollutants in area lakes and streams, and provide hands-on activities.

The eco-cruises are interactive programs for all ages, with guest presentations and lake monitoring activities in collaboration with Tiohero Tours. Cruises depart from the Ithaca Farmers' Market dock, Third Street off Route 13.

Reservations are required by calling 607-697-0166. Ticket prices: $12-$18; children under age 5 ride free. Reduced price and free coupons are available upon request to ensure the program is accessible to everyone. Information: http://www.floatingclassroom.net

Guitar lessons

Phil Shapiro leads Group Folk Guitar Lessons beginning Sept. 10 in the Willard Straight Hall International Lounge. Open to the public and the Cornell community, lessons are geared to beginners on acoustic guitar, and those interested in improving their playing.

There are eight one-hour lessons on Monday evenings, for beginners (7 p.m.) and intermediate lessons for players with some experience (8 p.m.); registration is at the first lesson. Bring a guitar.

The entire course costs $60, payable at the first lesson. For information, contact Shapiro, 607-844-4535, pds10@cornell.edu, or visit http://www.shapiroandshore.com/guitarclass.html.

Classes are offered twice a year, starting in September and January. Presented by the Willard Straight Hall Student Union Board at Cornell.

Corporate journey

Infosys Ltd. founder and chairman emeritus and Cornell emeritus trustee N.R. Narayana Murthy will present a public lecture Sept. 10 at 4:30 p.m. in Statler Auditorium. Free.

His talk, "Entrepreneurship and the Lessons Learned From My Corporate Journey," is sponsored by the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management as part of its Distinguished Global Leader Speaker Series. Co-sponsored by the College of Engineering.

Fantastic films

Cornell Cinema will present "A Magical Méliès Evening" with works by French film pioneer George Méliès, Sept. 13 at 8:30 p.m. in the Willard Straight Hall Memorial Room. Admission is $5.

Méliès is the historical figure at the center of Martin Scorsese's 2011 film "Hugo." The French magician-turned-fantasy-filmmaker made hundreds of magical films at the turn of the last century, most notably "A Trip to the Moon" in 1902, the first science fiction film. Cornell Cinema's tribute to Méliès features a restored hand-painted color version of "A Trip to the Moon," which premiered at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival with a soundtrack by the French electronica duo Air.

Doors open at 8 p.m.; prescreening activities include information on the history of silent filmmaking in Ithaca and photo opportunities with a hand-painted scene from "A Trip to the Moon." Co-sponsored with the Ithaca Motion Picture Project.

Jazz in Bailey

Saxophonist Tia Fuller brings her quartet to Bailey Hall Sept. 14 at 8 p.m. to open the 2012-13 Cornell Concert Series (CCS). A creative artist drawing on both pop and jazz, Fuller will be joined by pianist Shamie Royston, acoustic bassist Mimi Jones and drummer Terri Lyne Carrington.

Fuller spent five years in Beyoncé Knowles' band and more recently has been assistant musical director for Esperanza Spalding's Radio Music Society tour. Fuller also is a composer and educator; she recently completed her third album, "Angelic Warrior."

Tickets for the Tia Fuller Quartet are $25-$35 general, students $17, all seats reserved. Single tickets are available for all nine concerts in CCS' 110th season, including Anonymous 4 in Sage Chapel. Visit http://www.cornellconcertseries.com/ or http://www.baileytickets.com.

A Cornell discount rate is available online with a valid NetID. Single tickets are also available at Ticket Center Ithaca on the Commons, or by calling 607-273-4497. Subscriptions for the entire season, and four-concert classical, world music and custom packages are still available; call 607-255-5144.

Literary Lunch

Fiction writer Leslie Daniels will be featured at the first Literary Lunch of the semester, Monday, Sept. 24, at 11:30 a.m. at the Cayuga Heights residence of President David Skorton and Professor Robin Davisson. The event is free and open to the first 25 people to RSVP by Sept. 17 to special-events@cornell.edu.

Daniels' first novel, "Cleaning Nabokov's House," is about a divorcee rediscovering herself while living in the house Vladimir Nabokov occupied when the writer was teaching at Cornell.

Daniels has published short fiction and essays in Ploughshares and The Missouri Review, among other publications. She has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, the Best American Essays series and the Best of the Associated Writing Programs, and she was the fiction editor of the Green Mountains Review for five years. She lives in Ithaca. Information: http://www.lesliedaniels.com