Postcards from Mars: a Talk by Jim Bell

The Tompkins County Public Library will host a free, family-friendly talk by Jim Bell on “Postcards from Mars,” on Saturday, January 27, 2:00 p.m., in the Borg Warner Room, Tompkins County Public Library. The event, sponsored by Wegmans, is part of the Light in Winter celebration.

Come see some of the latest and greatest images from NASA's Spirit and Opportunity rovers, which have been driving around Mars - the ultimate winter destination - since early 2004. Jim Bell, leader of Cornell's Mars rover camera team, will share some of his favorite stories and Postcards from Mars in this fun, family-oriented journey to the Red Planet. Seating is limited, so we recommend you come early. A book signing will follow the talk.

Earlier that Saturday, at 11:30 a.m., the library’s Family Story Time will feature “Tales of Mars and Other Planets.” Visit TCPL's new Youth Services mascot, Mars-Rover the Dog. Also on display at the library though the end of February is a selection of Jim Bell’s Mars photos, some never before published. Please visit http://www.tcpl.org/news/2007/01/postcards-from-mars-exhibit.html for more information.

Questioning the Great Divide : Me and Not-Me

An exhibit of Art and Poetry curated by Fernando Llosa and Kim Schrag

January through March 2007
Opening Reception: Friday, January 26, 3:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.

Aware that humanity is increasingly threatened by enormous problems of its own making, twenty local artists present work questioning the separation traditionally assumed to exist between the self and the "other"; among different cultural groups, and between humanity and the physical world as a whole.

Participating artists include:
June Szabo, (sculptor and weaver)
Camille Doucet, (painter)
Andrew Gillis, (photographer)
Joseph Carrozzo, (painter)
Harry Littel (photographer)
Mario Hernandez, (poet)
Roald Hoffmann, (poet)
Jeni Whitman, (multi-media artist)
Jane Dennis, (sculptor)
Yvonne Piburn, (painter)
Brody Parker, (painter)
Linda Price, (painter)
Barry Perlus, (photographer)
Dora Donovan, (painter)
John Lyon Paul, (painter)
Ella Sadza-Loinaz, (printer)
Michael Finn, (drawing)
Peter Dodge, (composer)
Kim Schrag, (drawing)
Fernando Llosa, (painter)

Fernando Llosa and Kim Shrag posed the following statements to artists:

1. We present and question the division generally claimed to exist between "Me" and the rest of the known and unknown Universe —in its ecological, biological, cellular, molecular, atomic and sub-atomic dimensions— often perceived as "Not-Me". The illusory nature of this division becomes apparent as we reveal that, beyond the very surface of things, the boundaries created by the alienated and conditioned mind are irrelevant if not outright false.
   
2. We present and question the division generally claimed to exist between "Me" and another human being perceived as "Not –Me". We question the reality of this division given that both, "you" and "I", have largely the same physical characteristics; the same life cycle; the same instincts and drives; the same fundamental needs for sustenance, security, housing and relationship; and the same stubborn identification with exclusive psychological and cultural memories and ambitions that determine for everyone a dangerous and common sense of separation from others.
   
3. We present and question the moral division claimed to exist between "Us", presumably the "good guys", and others perceived as "Them", the "bad guys"; "Not–Me". We question the right of anyone to claim ethical superiority over anyone else given that the root cause of all human problems, including all overt and covert violence, personal and collective, lies in the self-centeredness and the ethnocentrism (the narrow tribal identification) that characterizes the conditioned human psyche.
   

He then asked the artists to map out in a very graphic and artistic manner the nature and extent of the falseness of the duality between "Me" and "Not-Me". The intent of the artists is for people visiting the show to independently questioning their own sense of separation in the mirrors thus provided.

The show aims to present things as they are, not to tell people what to do about them.

The exhibit is made possible in part by funds from the Community Arts Partnership/NY State Council on the Arts Decentralization Program.

Help Us Recycle our Periodicals!

Every year we discard periodicals which are more than three years old. You can help us by buying our 2003 magazines for 25 cents each. Both adult and childrens magazines will be recycled starting January 22nd.

Tompkins County Public Library Foundation Grateful to Big Red Wrestlers for their Community Challenge to Support the Library

The Tompkins County Public Library Foundation is pleased to announce that the Cornell University wrestling team will host a Community Challenge to support the library at their match with Arizona State on Sunday, January 21 at 1 p.m.

Cheer on the Big Red with your friends and family and help Cornell Wrestling raise money for the library. Catch all the wrestling action at Bartels Hall, Newman Arena, on the Cornell campus. Parking is free. Call 254-BEAR (254-2327) to purchase tickets at $5 for children and staff and $8 for adults.

Thank you Big Red Wrestlers for supporting your public library!

Ithaca Moviemaking: Behind the Scenes

January 20th 1:30 - 3:00 p.m.
Tompkins County Public Library Borg Warner Community Room


Ithaca-Made Movies president Terry Harbin will speak about the effort of his
organization to establish a Silent Film Museum in the old Wharton Studios.
This event is a continuation of a previous program in which some discussion
about the museum had been scheduled. Terry will also be talking about and showing “Behind the Scenes” images of Ithaca-Made Movies, which were also expected to be shown at the earlier event.

A special program entitled “Ithaca-Made Movies” which has been showing locally on public access television will be shown. Movie clips of local scenes will be featured in a compilation of recognizable Ithaca sites. He will also be showing many items that he has recently purchased on E-bay, which relate to the stars that appeared here during Ithaca’s moviemaking days.

This program will repeat again January 24th at 5:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. For a color flyer, visit http://www.tcpl.org/programs/ithacamovies2007v2.pdf (.pdf).

Don't miss this free local history event! Help support Ithaca-Made Movies
in preserving Ithaca’s moviemaking past. This event is co-sponsored by the Tompkins County Public Library.

Tompkins County Public Library Announces Children’s Website Astronaut

The Tompkins County Public Library launched a new children’s space-themed website on November 20th but soon decided the site needed an astronaut to keep kids company while navigating its pages. After narrowing it down to five very promising animals, they opened up the polls and let the public vote for their favorite ‘webstronaut.’ Twenty-five days and 66 votes later, the results are in and Mars-Rover the dog has prevailed. Named after Cornell’s Department of Astronomy and their involvement in the mission to Mars, Mars-Rover the Dog received 31% of the votes. Visit Mars-Rover the Dog @ http://www.tcpl.org/ .

Storytime Changes

Until further notice the Youth Services department in Tompkins County Public Library has discontinued Babies Books and Bounce Time which was scheduled on the first and third Thursdays from 6:30pm- 7:00pm. We also have discontinued Preschool Storytime which was scheduled on Wednesdays from 11:00 am to 11:30 am.

Families Learning Science Together: Microworld

Families will learn how to use the optical microscope as a unique tool for scientific discovery. Families will rotate through a number of stations investigating things on a microscopic level. Stations will include: Salts: examine samples from several different types of salts; Dots and Dollars: investigate how text and pictures are printed; and Small Creatures: identify the structures of various insects. This program takes place in the Thaler/Howell Programming Room of the Tompkins County Public Library from 1:00pm to 2:00 pm on Saturday, January 13, 2007. Tompkins County Public Library and the Cornell Center for Material Research are co-sponsors of this program.

Reserve a spot today by contacting Kevin at outreach@ccmr.cornell.edu or call 254-8256. This program is free and open to the public, but space is limited.

Postcards from Mars Exhibit

Postcards from Mars Exhibit: An exhibit of photographs by the first Photographer on The Red Planet

Jim Bell
Associate Professor in the Cornell University Astronomy Department, and lead scientist for the pancam color imaging system on the NASA Mars Exploration Rover (Spirt and Opportunity) Missions.

On display in Youth Services at the Tompkins County Public Library during January and February 2007.

Jim Bell will be speaking at the Library on Saturday, January 27, 2007 at 2 p.m. in the Borg Warner Room. For more information, please visit http://www.tcpl.org/news/2007/01/postcards-from-mars-talk-by-jim-bell.html.

A Year of Art at Tompkins County Public Library

Questioning the Great Divide: Me and Not-Me
An exhibit of art and poetry curated by Fernando Llosa and Kim Shrag
Aware that humanity is increasingly threatened by enormous problems of its own making, twenty local artists present work questioning the separation traditionally assumed to exist between the self and the “other”; among different cultural groups, and between humanity and the physical world as a whole. The exhibit will be on display January through March 2007 with an opening reception on Friday January 26, 3:30 pm – 5:30 pm.
For more information, please visit http://www.tcpl.org/news/2007/01/questioning-great-divide-me-and-not-me.html

Postcards from Mars
An exhibit of photographs by the First Photographer on the Red Plant
Jim Bell, Associate Professor, Cornell University Department of Astronomy
January and February 2007
Jim Bell will be speaking at the libray Saturday, January 27th. For more information, please visit http://www.tcpl.org/news/2007/01/postcards-from-mars-talk-by-jim-bell.html.

An Exhibit of Color and Design in Celebration of the Anniversary of Joan Miro curated by Alice Muhlback and featuring the artists affiliated with the gallery Spirit and Kitsch will be on display during April and May. Spirit and Kitsch is a “Unique Finger Lakes Gallery of Functional, Cool and Funky Art.” The members of the gallery will join together to present works of art which, through their use of color and design evoke the spirit of Joan Miro.
Opening Reception: Thursday, April 19, 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Visual Culture at Ithaca High School
An exhibit of work by Ithaca High School Students curated by Carol Spence and other members of the Art Faculty will be on display during June. The exhibit will feature the work of Ithaca High School Students and include two and three-dimensional artwork as well as photography.
Opening Reception: to be announced

Two by Eight on Equity and Aesthetics (2 x 8 on E & A)
An exhibit of art curated by Terry Plater in which 8 local artists address two pressing concerns of constant interest: equity and aesthetics will be on display July through September . Terry Plater states, “Addressing the need for equity and aesthetics in my own life – and often negotiating a tension between the two – has been a constant preoccupation. In this exhibition, eight local artists will approach these two conditions or states of being in a series of works. The artists include Milton Curry, architect; Raymond Dalton, artist; Felecia Davis, architect; Salah Hassan, curator, critic; Terry Plater, painter, exhibition curator; Greg Page, printmaker; Amaeci Okigbo, painter; and Henry Richardson, architect.
Opening Reception: Thursday, July 12, 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Haven’t We Met Before?
A mixed media exhibit curated by Vicky Romanoff featuring the work of Connie Saltonstall, Sara Adams, Vicky Romanoff, Joe Scaglione, Peter Kahn, Haley Smith and others will be on display October through December. The primary focus of the exhibit will be on historic preservation, conservation and recycling in Ithaca and Tompkins County seen through the eyes of local artists. The visual imagery will include sculptures, photographs, film clips, posters, models, etc. October through December 2007
Opening Reception: to be announced

Other exhibits include The Memory Project: Portraits of Acehnese Children an exhibit in March, sponsored by the Cornell Southeast Asia Program with Ithaca High School Art Department and the Aceh Relief Fund, of pastel portraits of Indonesian children affected by the tsunami of 2004: and The Heart Gallery: Portraits of Children Freed for Adoption an exhibit if photographs on display in May.

For further information about each exhibit please visit www.tcpl.org or call Sally Grubb at 272-4557 ext 232.

Ithaca Moviemaking: Behind the Scenes RESCHEDULED

On January 6th from 1:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m., in the Tompkins County Public Library’s Borg Warner Community Room, Ithaca Made Movies president Terry Harbin will speak about the current efforts of his organization to establish a Silent Film Museum in the old Wharton Studios located in Stewart Park. View the flyer (.pdf)

Terry will be showing 3 different “behind the scenes” programs. One which was last shown during Ithaca’s Centennial Celebration in 1988, was produced by M. J. Herson and Insights productions and is titled “They Made A Movie In Ithaca, Again.” It features Walt Amey as the villain, George Preston as the hero, and Amy Brill as the girl. All of the firemen are played by other recognizable Ithaca personalities.

Next, a rarely seen local production that should be very interesting, entitled “They Made a Movie”. This shows the making of “They Made Movies in Ithaca.” Also a few short films discovered while researching local moviemaking will be shown.

Syracuse native Doris Kenyon will be featured in clips from a movie “The Great White Trail” filmed here in 1917 by the Wharton Brothers. Kenyon will also appear in a fascinating “behind the scenes” look at silent moviemaking entitled “A Girl’s Folly,” also from 1917.

Another program entitled “Ithaca Made Movies” has been showing locally on public access television and it tells the story of Ithaca-Made Movies.

Included will be more information about Irene Castle & Pearl White, two of Ithaca’s favorite movie stars. Terry will also be showing items that he recently purchased on E-bay that are related to Ithaca moviemaking.

Don’t miss this free local history event. Help support Ithaca-Made Movies as it continues
to collect & preserve Ithacas’movimaking past.

This event is co-sponsored by The Tompkins County Public Library.

Tompkins County Public Library Announces Children’s Website Astronaut

The Tompkins County Public Library launched a new children’s space-themed website on November 20th but soon decided the site needed an astronaut to keep kids company while navigating its pages. After narrowing it down to five very promising animals, they opened up the polls and let the public vote for their favorite ‘webstronaut.’ Twenty-five days and 66 votes later, the results are in and Mars-Rover the dog has prevailed. Named after Cornell’s Department of Astronomy and their involvement in the mission to Mars, Mars-Rover the Dog received 31% of the votes. Visit Mars-Rover the Dog @ http://www.tcpl.org/ .