Exhibits at Mann Library
If you find yourself at Mann Library with a moment to enjoy being delightfully surprised by some visual treasures, our newly renovated building offers ample opportunity. The magic of tiny mushroom landscapes, the allure of whimsical woodchucks in watercolor, the breathtaking bird art of a master poet, the innovative work of Cornell students--Mann's display spaces, located in the Mann Lobby, in the 1st floor exhibit cases by the Current Periodicals Reading Area, and in the new 2nd floor Mann Gallery, offer something for everyone over the course of each year. Select installations are also available for viewing via the web through our virtual exhibit series. We warmly welcome browsing visits--both real and virtual--and hope they prove a learning pleasure.
Current exhibits at Mann Library
Miniature Landscapes: Photographic Adventures with a Borescope (January-February 27) Mann Gallery, 2nd floor
The Mann Gallery's January/February exhibit features the fungal photography of Kent Loeffler, who uses a fish-eye-lens-on-a-stick device called a borescope to reveal the small-scale majesty of the oft-reviled organisms. Loeffler, who has been the photographer for the Cornell Department of Plant Pathology and Plant Microbe Biology for the past 23 years, captured the borescope images in this exhibit to illustrate the Cornell Mushroom Blog (http://hosts.cce.cornell.edu/mushroom_blog/), a teaching and outreach project of Professor Kathie Hodge.
Woodchucks in Watercolor: The "Wild Bill" Hamilton Groundhog Card Series by Jack Lambert (February - March), 1st floor display cases.
To the cold northeastern regions of North America, the month of February can bring thick blizzards, dangerous ice storms, sudden thaws, driving rain, and bone-chilling plunges back into a deep winter freeze. No wonder, then, that this particular month also opens with Groundhog Day, that eccentric yearly attempt to create some measure of predictability out of February's weather mess. For professor emeritus Jack Lambert and the late Cornell mammalogist William J. Hamilton, this absurd American tradition offered the perfect opportunity to play up the legendary sense of humor for which Dr. Hamilton is still remembered by his old students and colleagues. A late winter exhibit at Mann Library displays a selection of groundhog cards, dating back to the 1960s, that Professor Lambert created for his friend and former teacher. Light, humorous, and informal, these Cornell gems recall a little of the life and times of a much admired and fondly remembered life sciences scholar.
Student Expo Series: The Art of Horticulture (March) Mann Gallery, 2nd floor
An exhibit of work by students of Hort 201, "The Art of Horticulture," led by Marcia Eames-Sheavely.
Never Mind the Pussycat: The Ornithological Art of Edward Lear (March 15-May 15) Mann Library Lobby
Most of us know Edward Lear as the author of The Owl and the Pussycat, and the well-loved Nonsense Songs, Stories, Botany, and Alphabets. He made his living, however, as a landscape painter, and as young man was an accomplished natural history illustrator. This display focuses on the ornithological lithographs Lear produced in the early 1830’s, some when he was still in his teens. The images are extraordinary − meticulously accurate, and brimming with personality.
Student Expo Series: Mapping, Metaphor and Materiality (April - May 15) Mann Gallery, 2nd floor.
An exhibit of work by students of Art 372.
New York Viniculture: State of the Art (June - September) Mann Library Lobby
In conjunction with the 10th anniversary of the Eastern Wine & Grape Archive being celebrated by the Rare and Manuscript Collection of the Cornell University Library, Mann Library will host an exhibit on new developments in New York viniculture. From exciting research developments at Cornell and the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, N.Y. to changes in local landscapes being etched by the thriving wine industry, Mann’s exhibit will offer a state-of-the-art update and full-color visual tour of what’s happening with New York wine grapes.
Student Expo Series: Designing the Urban Eden (July - August), Mann Library Gallery, 2nd floor.
An exhibit of work by students of Landscape Architecture / Horticulture 492 led by Nina Bassuk and Peter Trowbridge.
