Ithaca's Johnson Museum hosts student-led staffage exhibit
The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art in Ithaca is hosting a new student-led installation focused on small figures in landscape paintings. The exhibit explores how tiny figures, known as “staffage,” indicate scale and tell larger stories about the art.
In the tradition of European landscape painting, staffage figures “give the painting a sense of depth, but also a possibility of narrative, some kind of literary component,” said Benjamin Anderson, associate professor in the Department of History of Art and Visual Studies in the Cornell University College of Arts and Sciences, who taught a fall 2025 Society for the Humanities seminar that inspired the installation.
“The general idea was that the entire painting was executed and then the staffage was added,” Anderson said. “In fact, some painters didn’t do their own staffage.”
More at https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2026/02/museum-installation-focuses-small-figures-large-landscapes. Cornell University is at Johnson Museum of Art.
| Feb 11, 2026 at 8:30 AM | College |
Ithaca to hold two meetings on eRide Ithaca
The City of Ithaca will hold two community meetings to discuss eRide Ithaca at the BorgWarner Room of the Tompkins County Public Library, 101 E. Green St., Ithaca, on Feb. 25 from noon to 1 p.m., and on Mar. 4 from 6 to 7 p.m.
| Feb 18, 2026 at 12:36 PM | Gov |
Cornell records indicate first Black American to enroll in 1878
ITHACA, N.Y. — Cornell records identify Thomas Shauter as the university’s first Black student, enrolling in 1878 in the flexible “optional course” and later working as a stenographer in Cleveland before his 1926 death, with no photos surviving and the Chicago Defender calling him a pioneer of court reporters.
| Feb 18, 2026 at 8:30 AM | College |
Cornell to Host Campus Visit for Prospective Students, Alumni
Cornell University in Ithaca says it is planning campus visits and directs prospective students and alumni to cornell.edu/visit.
| Feb 17, 2026 at 8:30 AM | College |
Cornell University Quotes Itself in Ithaca Report
Cornell University in Ithaca says its report includes the traditional greeting “Joy to all we love the best, Love to thee our fair Cornell” and the line “Cornell University is at Cornell University.”
| Feb 14, 2026 at 8:30 AM | College |
Ithaca urges residents to clear sidewalks in winter
The City of Ithaca is urging residents to clear sidewalks of snow and ice, warns that property owners may be charged if the city clears the sidewalks, reminds drivers to observe odd-even parking to aid plow crews, and encourages neighbors to help neighbors with shoveling during winter weather.
| Feb 13, 2026 at 3:48 PM | Gov |
Cornell says Big Red spirit warms Ithaca views
Cornell University in Ithaca said its cool views were warmed by Big Red spirit.
| Feb 11, 2026 at 4:17 PM | College |
Space microbes boost palladium extraction from meteorite
A study by Cornell University and the University of Edinburgh aboard the International Space Station found that biomining fungi can extract palladium and other platinum-group elements from a meteorite in microgravity, with space conditions altering fungal metabolism and boosting metal release across 44 elements analyzed, 18 of which were biologically extracted.
| Feb 11, 2026 at 12:34 PM | College |
RoCo to exhibit Nicholson's "Lifelong Bills Fan" on March 6
Rochester Contemporary Art Center will exhibit Paul M. Nicholson’s installation "Lifelong Bills Fan" in its Lab Space on First Friday, March 6.
| Feb 10, 2026 at 1:16 PM | Arts |
Six Mile Creek Vineyard Hosts Cayuga Lake Wine Trail Event
Six Mile Creek Vineyard in Ithaca, New York, says tickets remain available for an event on the Cayuga Lake Wine Trail, offering food and wine pairings along with fresh spices and herbs and wine.
| Feb 10, 2026 at 12:51 PM | winery |