Provided

A watercolor of Tallinn, Estonia, from “Frances M. Shloss: Travels,” on display June 3-7 in John Hartell Gallery.

Fuertes Fridays

The Cornell Astronomical Society hosts open viewing hours for stargazing on Friday evenings when skies are clear, at the Fuertes Observatory on North Campus.

Visitors can scan the night skies for heavenly bodies, and society members also lead tours of the observatory and its collection of historic instruments. Normal hours of Fuertes Fridays are 7:30 to 11:30 p.m. For a recorded message updated with the status of viewing hours, call 607-255-3557.

World travels

Sketches and paintings of buildings and scenic landscapes from trips around the world – the views from a ship’s balcony, or quickly done during brief stops while traveling by bus, train and airplane – are featured in “Frances M. Shloss: Travels,” June 3-7 in John Hartell Gallery in Sibley Dome.

Shloss '44, B.Arch. '45, who is attending her 70th Reunion next week, was first introduced to watercolors as an architecture student. Over the past 30 years she has painted more than 500 small-scale vignettes of cities around the world – never intended to be finished artworks, but remembrances of the places she visited. Many were created during cruises, on shore excursions or from the ship as it sailed in and out of foreign ports.

Shloss is the namesake donor of Franny’s food truck on Milstein Hall Plaza and of the College of Architecture, Art and Planning’s third-floor architecture studios in East Sibley Hall.

Joel Perlman, B.F.A. ’65, is showing a collection of bronze sculptures, displayed during the artist’s 50th Reunion, in the Bibliowicz Family Art Gallery in Milstein Hall. The exhibition is open June 5, noon to 5 p.m.; and June 6, 9 a.m.-to 5 p.m.

Perlman’s work is in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden and other major museums. He studied sculpture at Cornell with Jack Squier; the emeritus professor of sculpture also has a show of his own work at the Johnson Museum.

Objects of desire

Sam Roberts ‘68, The New York Times’ urban affairs correspondent and author of “A History of New York in 101 Objects,” will present “The Past Is Prologue, Objects of Desire, What the Past Portends, Why History Matters,” June 4 at 4:30 p.m. in Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall.                 

In his book, Roberts invites readers to rediscover their own “Rosebud” moments through transformative artifacts from their past. As he writes, “It’s not even a history. It’s my history. It’s supposed to be subjective and provocative, to encourage ordinary people, and professionals as well, to appreciate history imaginatively.”

A reception and viewing of the exhibition “150 Ways to Say Cornell” will follow at 5:30 p.m. in Carl A. Kroch Library’s Hirshland Gallery. The event is hosted by Cornell Library’s Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections.

Movers and shakers

Tompkins County Public Library will offer guided tours of the exhibition “Cornell Off Campus: The Impact of Cornellians on Tompkins County,” during Reunion weekend as part of downtown Ithaca’s Gallery Night, June 5 from 5-8 p.m.

Created in commemoration of Cornell’s sesquicentennial, the display showcases 15 illustrious Cornellians such as Howard Babcock, Beverly J. Martin, Belle Sherman, Martha Van Rensselaer and Svante Myrick ’09, with life-sized photographs and essays.

Curator Julee Johnson, M.A. ’85, will lead tours and provide details on Cornellians not featured. Visitors should enter the library through the door to the BorgWarner Community Room, behind the bus shelter on Green Street.

For information, contact Sally Grubb, exhibit coordinator, at sgrubb@tcpl.org or 607-272-4557, ext. 232.