Open House and Design Presentation

Friends of Stewart Park (FSP) and Wharton Studio Museum (WSM) invite you to an open house and design presentation all about the upcoming Wharton Studio & Café, the next major revitalization project in Stewart Park. Join us right where the project will be in front of the Wharton Studio Building, across the parking lot from the Picnic “Large” Pavilion in Stewart Park!

• Meet members of the project team  -- the planners, architects, engineers, landscape architects and designers

• See renderings and drawings of the project

  Chat with FSP and WSM staff all about the project

• Get your questions answered

Join Ithaca Mushroom Walks!

Discover the fascinating world of fungi with our monthly Mushroom Walks at Renwick Wildwood Bird Sanctuary in Stewart Park, Ithaca, NY. Perfect for adults and families with children.

What to Expect:

• Interactive Learning: Identify diverse species of fungi and learn about their ecological importance.

• Hands-On Activities: Learn to make identifications using micro and macro characteristics and document your findings.

• Participatory Science: Help generate a list of fungi and fungal-related organisms found in Stewart Park.

• Practice the Art of Noticing: Immerse yourself in nature through slow, mindful exploration.

Details:

• When: June 28, July 12, August 23, October 4, 10 am to 11:30 am

• Where: Meet at the Kiosk for Renwick Wildwood Bird Sanctuary, Stewart Park, Ithaca, NY 

No prior knowledge required—just bring your curiosity and a sense of adventure! Let's explore the hidden wonders of fungi together. We recommend bug spray and long pants to protect yourself from ticks. If you have a hand lens, please bring it. We will also have some hand lenses and field guides to borrow.

Walk Leaders

Teresa Iturriaga PhD,  is a mycologist, working for more than 25 years in systematics, ecology, and biodiversity of fungi. 

Mary McKellar is an educator, providing instruction in the life sciences for over 25 years, including courses in mycology.

Cornell Outdoor Education, Paddle-N-More, and Friends of Stewart Park invite you to the Access Outdoors Expo. Learn about adaptive sports programs and resources in our community. Stewart Park near Paddle-N-More.

Join Ithaca Mushroom Walks!

Discover the fascinating world of fungi with our monthly Mushroom Walks at Renwick Wildwood Bird Sanctuary in Stewart Park, Ithaca, NY. Perfect for adults and families with children.

What to Expect:

• Interactive Learning: Identify diverse species of fungi and learn about their ecological importance.

• Hands-On Activities: Learn to make identifications using micro and macro characteristics and document your findings.

• Participatory Science: Help generate a list of fungi and fungal-related organisms found in Stewart Park.

• Practice the Art of Noticing: Immerse yourself in nature through slow, mindful exploration.

Details:

• When: June 28, July 12, August 23, October 4, 10 am to 11:30 am

• Where: Meet at the Kiosk for Renwick Wildwood Bird Sanctuary, Stewart Park, Ithaca, NY 

No prior knowledge required—just bring your curiosity and a sense of adventure! Let's explore the hidden wonders of fungi together. We recommend bug spray, a long-sleeved shirt, and long pants to protect yourself from insects. Please be aware that there is poison ivy in the area as well. If you have a hand lens, please bring it. We will also have some hand lenses and field guides to borrow.

Walk Leaders

Teresa Iturriaga PhD,  is a mycologist, working for more than 25 years in systematics, ecology, and biodiversity of fungi. 

Mary McKellar is an educator, providing instruction in the life sciences for over 25 years, including courses in mycology.

HISTORY WALK AND TALK
SATURDAY, JUNE 28, 2025

We invite you to a tour of historic Stewart Park hosted by Friends of Stewart Park, Wharton Studio Museum & Historic Ithaca. The tour will focus on the park's history and its current revitalization. This tour will be walking throughout the park please be sure to wear proper footwear and bring a water bottle. Meet on the Waterfront Trail in front of the Picnic “Large” Pavilion.

The 7th Annual Ithaca Reggae Fest returns to Stewart Park in Ithaca, NY, expanding to three days from June 20-22, 2025! INFO AT: https://www.ithacareggaefest.com/

Friday Night kicks things off with a FREE Block Party

Saturday features headlining performances from Kabaka Pyramid and Mihali

Sunday welcomes the legendary Steel Pulse celebrating their 50th Anniversary, joined by Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad for the first-ever Sunday lineup!

Get ready for an unforgettable weekend of reggae, community, and celebration by the lake!

The 7th Annual Ithaca Reggae Fest returns to Stewart Park in Ithaca, NY, expanding to three days from June 20-22, 2025! INFO AT: https://www.ithacareggaefest.com/

Friday Night kicks things off with a FREE Block Party

Saturday features headlining performances from Kabaka Pyramid and Mihali

Sunday welcomes the legendary Steel Pulse celebrating their 50th Anniversary, joined by Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad for the first-ever Sunday lineup!

Get ready for an unforgettable weekend of reggae, community, and celebration by the lake!

The 7th Annual Ithaca Reggae Fest returns to Stewart Park in Ithaca, NY, expanding to three days from June 20-22, 2025! INFO AT: https://www.ithacareggaefest.com/

Friday Night kicks things off with a FREE Block Party

Saturday features headlining performances from Kabaka Pyramid and Mihali

Sunday welcomes the legendary Steel Pulse celebrating their 50th Anniversary, joined by Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad for the first-ever Sunday lineup!

Get ready for an unforgettable weekend of reggae, community, and celebration by the lake!

POSTPONED

Stay Tuned - we’ll try again for this event later this summer!

Join us for a special Sunset Tour and Champagne Toast to the Revitalization of Stewart Park
Friday, June 13, 6:00 PM, Stewart Park, Ithaca

Friends of Stewart Park staff will lead a guided walk through the park’s newest improvements, share exciting upcoming projects, and finish with a complimentary glass of sparkling wine or non-alcoholic cider in the Tea Pavilion as the sun sets over Cayuga Lake.

It’s our way of saying thank you—and looking ahead together.

RSVP now to save your spot! Meet on the lakeside lawn of the Large Pavilion.
Email: meloney@friendsofstewartpark.org
Phone: 607-319-4766

Join FSP Saturday, May 3, from 10AM-noon for I Love My Park Day!

We'll prepare the park for summer by cleaning up garden beds, planting new landscaping, raking the playground, mulching, trimming lakeside vegetation, painting the new Picnic Pavilion Addition and more. Dress for the weather and bring your gloves, rakes, clippers and other gardening tools.

Meet by the Garage Doors of the DPW/ Wharton Building.

Registration with Parks and Trails New York for I Love My Park Day is not required but it greatly appreciated. Registering as a participant helps PTNY with tracking for grants and services.

You're Invited to an Open House with Friends of Stewart Park and Wharton Studio Museum -- all about the Wharton Studio & Cafe Project

See renderings and drawings of the Wharton Studio & Cafe and meet the project team -- the planners, architects, engineers, landscape architects and designers--behind this next major revitalization project in Stewart Park.   

When: Sunday, April 27, 1:00 - 3:00 PM
Where: Ithaca Youth Bureau, 1 James L. Gibbs Drive, Ithaca
Free Parking

The Wharton Studio & Cafe

Friends of Stewart Park and Wharton Studio Museum (WSM) are collaborating to transform the lakefront section of the historic Wharton Studio Building (currently the DPW building) into the Wharton Studio & Café (WS&C). This cultural and recreational destination in Stewart Park will feature a small cafe, gallery space with multimedia exhibits on Ithaca's movie history -- as well as park history -- and terraces overlooking Cayuga Lake. Phase II of the project includes a renovated parking area that can serve as a multi-use Performance Plaza (parking will still be available). The Wharton Studio & Cafe will breathe new life into the former studio building, all the while preserving and highlighting unique local history and creating a vibrant gathering place for the residents and visitors to the area.

The Wharton Studio Building

The Wharton Studio Building is one of the few remaining silent era (early 20th century) motion picture studios in the country. Its restoration will be a key component of the WS&C, and serves as the final project in the overall restoration of Stewart Park’s historic pavilion complex. The Wharton Studio Museum will continue to offer educational programs as its been doing since 2011, and will curate all the  exhibits in the WS&C’s gallery space, allowing visitors to learn about the region's role in early American filmmaking.

The Wharton Studio & Cafe will give visitors a place to enjoy the park even when the weather isn't ideal for being outdoors. There will be WiFi, phone charging, and bathroom facilities. The café, exhibit spaces, and lakeside terraces can also host live music events, private parties, or film-related workshops, drawing Ithacans and visitors to the park.

This is a family-friendly event -- there will be a film-related craft for kids -- and we look forward to seeing you!

                                    Join us on Saturday, April 27th at 2pm at IYB!

Our ANNUAL WATERFRONT CLEANUP, will be Saturday, April 12 from 10 am to noon!

Together, we'll practice good stewardship of our park and Cayuga Lake’s waterfront, with trash cleanup, pavilion cleaning, and trimming. Dress for the weather, wear boots or sturdy shoes, and bring gloves, garbage bags, litter grabbers, rakes or anything else that will help.

Thanks to Zero Waste Ithaca for partnering with FSP on this cleanup. Meet by the Wharton Building (DPW). 

If the weather is terrible, we’ll reschedule to April 12th.

This is a past event. For current events, please visit stewartpark.org/events

Friends of Stewart Park invites you to

The Power of Birds to Transform Conservation with Amanda Rodewald

Thursday March 20, 7:00 PM, Cinemapolis
$20 Suggested Donation
$15-$50 Sliding Scale per Ticket

Proceeds Benefit an Interpretive Sign for the Fuertes Bird Sanctuary Overlook.
This event kicks off the Ithaca Native Landscape Symposium.

MORE ABOUT THE EVENT:

With so many competing pressures for land and resources, conservation is increasingly expected to achieve a wide range of social, economic, and ecological goals and to improve the return on conservation investments. However, directing conservation efforts to the most important places at the most critical times is challenging because it requires extensive and detailed information.

In her talk, Amanda will discuss how birds give us a powerful lens through which we identify and implement strategies to conserve biodiversity and address global challenges facing people and the planet. She illustrates how eBird, a global participatory science project run by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, can facilitate the development of flexible, adaptable, creative, and economical approaches to conservation.

Amanda Rodewald is the Garvin Professor and Senior Director of the Center for Avian Population Studies at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment at Cornell University. She also serves as a Faculty Director for the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability. Prior to joining Cornell in 2013, Amanda spent 13 years as a professor at Ohio State University. Amanda received a B.S. degree in Wildlife Biology from University of Montana, a M.Sc. in Zoology from University of Arkansas, and a Ph.D. in Ecology from Pennsylvania State University. She works at the intersection of ecology and conservation, often drawing upon the social sciences, and she uses both field-based studies and participatory science to address conservation challenges in temperate and tropical systems. She has published over 190 scientific papers, an Ornithology textbook, 10 book chapters, and over 70 popular articles. Amanda is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the American Ornithological Society, from which she received the William Brewster Award in 2022. She also has served four terms on the Science Advisory Board of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, has testified before Congress, and regularly engages with practitioners and decision-makers to develop smart and innovative approaches to conservation that can accommodate social and ecological needs.

This is a past event. For current events, please visit stewartpark.org/events

Join Friends of Stewart Park and Wharton Studio Museum for our 9th annual Party for the Park fundraiser! 

We’re celebrating our current Roaring 20s by bringing the party back to the Roaring 1920s when silent movies were all the cat’s meow, jazz was playing in secret clubs downtown, and Ithacans were gathering in their new public lakeside park. 

Come as you are, or if you’d like, wear a sparkly headband, flapper dress, or Great Gatsby inspired suit! We just want you there! 

This year’s party will include live jazz, an incredible raffle, and local wine, beer and cider. Van Nobel Farm will cater a full farm-to-table meal including appetizer and dessert.

Thank you to this year’s Collaborating Sponsors

Event Sponsors

Edger Enterprises, Fingerlakes Wealth Management, Jyl's Photo Booth, and
KJ O'Connor from Parkitects, Inc.

Cooperative Sponsors
Bero Architecture, and Chiuten/Trowbridge Landscape Architects, Sciarabba Engineering, and Taitem Engineering

Unfortunately, we need to cancel WATERMUSIC 2024. Please join us for Watermusic again in 2025.

This is a past event. For current events, please visit stewartpark.org/events

The new Stewart Park Splash Pad’s first full day will be the 4th of July! Come play! In honor of the Grand Opening, there will also be free carousel rides all day, sponsored by Friends of Stewart Park!

Thank you to Parkitects and Edger Enterprises for all their hard work on the Splash Pad and the new Playground Bathroom!

Funding for the Stewart Park Splash Pad project comes in part through an Environmental Protection Fund grant (EPF #210131) administered by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation; NY State support through Assemblymember Anna Kelles; Tompkins County Tourism Program; the City of Ithaca, and private donations.

This is a past event. For current events, please visit stewartpark.org/events

Join FSP Saturday, May 4, from 10AM-noon for I Love My Park Day!

We'll prepare the park for summer by cleaning up garden beds, planting new landscaping, raking the playground, mulching, trimming lakeside vegetation and more. Dress for the weather and bring your gloves, rakes, clippers and other gardening tools.

Meet by the Garage Doors of the DPW/ Wharton Building.

Registration with Parks and Trails New York for I Love My Park Day is not required but it greatly appreciated. Registering as a participant helps PTNY with tracking for grants and services.

This is a past event. For current events, please visit stewartpark.org/events

Friends of Stewart Park and Cayuga Bird Club invite you to join Meena Haribal for a guided spring bird walk in Stewart Park!

Dress for the weather, bring your binoculars, and meet at the Cascadilla Boathouse at 8:30 am.

Rain Date Sunday May 5.

About Meena Haribal: She has been an avid naturalist for over 50 years! She has special interests in birds, butterflies, dragonflies/damselflies, and plants. Now retired, Meena was a chemical ecologist by profession, studying interactions and behaviors of organisms mediated by chemistry. Her interest in birds began in India where she was a very active member of the Bombay Natural History Society. She has written two books on insects and is also an avid photographer, nature sound recorder and world traveler. 

This is a past event. For current events, please visit stewartpark.org/events

Join FSP and Brandon Hoak, the Native Plant Specialist and Outreach Communicator for the Tompkins Pollinator Pathway, for a virtual Pollinator Pathway presentation Wed, April 17 at 7pm.

Brandon will introduce attendees to the Tompkins Pollinator Pathway Project, which aims to connect local gardens, parks, trails and landscapes to improve habitat corridors for pollinators in the county.

About Brandon Hoak: Brandon is the native plant specialist and outreach communicator for the Tompkins Pollinator Pathway, through Cornell’s School of Public & Ecosystem Health. TPP is a local organization focused on connecting local gardens to improve and maximize habitat corridors for pollinators. Brandon is the founder of Busy Bee Ecological Designs, an endeavor dedicated to providing native gardening and sustainable landscape design to individuals.

This is a past event. For current events, please visit stewartpark.org/events

Saturday, April 13 is the Second Annual Daffodil Dash 5K and 1-mile run/walk where participants will be delighted at the sight of almost 90,000 blooming daffodils planted along the Cayuga Inlet by the Ithaca Garden Club’s Daff-A-Dazzle community-wide project team. The trail of daffodils, coupled with the springtime blooms found in the Bulb Labyrinth Memorial Garden inside the Ithaca Children’s Garden, will mean individuals of all ages and stages will be able run, walk, roll or stroll through the only local race where it’s okay to stop… and smell the flowers.

Learn More and Register

This is a past event. For current events, please visit stewartpark.org/events

Join Friends of Stewart Park Saturday, April 6, from 10 am to noon for a morning of spring cleaning at the annual Stewart Park Waterfront Cleanup!

Dress for the weather, wear boots, and bring gloves, garbage bags, litter grabbers or anything else that will help. Together we'll practice good stewardship of our park and Cayuga Lake’s waterfront. If the weather is terrible, we will postpone the cleanup to Sunday April 7, same time.

Meet at the Picnic “Large” Pavilion.

Thank you to our event partner Zero Waste Ithaca for help in this cleanup.

Like and share this event on Facebook.

Are you on FSP and Cayuga Waterfront Trail volunteer list? Be the first to hear about volunteer opportunities by signing up for the list at friendsofstewartpark.org/volunteer

This is a past event. For current events, please visit stewartpark.org/events

Friends of Stewart Park invites you to a free guided bird walk with Meena Haribal

Meet at Stewart Park, in the northeast parking lot--as soon as you enter the park, take your first immediate right at the stop sign. You will be facing the lake as soon as you make the right turn, and this parking lot is only about 100 yds from the entrance.

Bring a pair of binoculars if you can--there will be a scope and a few pairs of binoculars to share. 

This walk will be on level terrain the entire time, no hills. We'll start along the lake shore and should see a variety of ducks, geese, mergansers, loons and gulls. Then we'll head into the woods in the adjacent Renwick Sanctuary--looking for forest birds such as wrens, nuthatches, titmouse and many other species. Possibly great horned owls roosting, but no guarantees! Dress in layers for the weather, including hat and gloves. The lake shore can be windy! 

About Meena Haribal: She has been an avid naturalist for over 50 years! She has special interests in birds, butterflies, dragonflies/damselflies, and plants. Now retired, Meena was a chemical ecologist by profession, studying interactions and behaviors of organisms mediated by chemistry. Her interest in birds began in India where she was a very active member of the Bombay Natural History Society. She has written two books on insects and is also an avid photographer, nature sound recorder and world traveler. 

This is a past event. For current events, please visit stewartpark.org/events

Experience stellar nature images by accomplished local photographers, presented on the big-screen, accompanied by live string music.

This unique multimedia fundraiser combines photographs and live music, highlights the striking landscape and inhabitants of Stewart Park and the Cayuga Waterfront Trail, while celebrating local photographers and musicians inspired by our natural world.

All proceeds benefit a Pollinator Garden and Area Enhancements for Stewart Park’s New Splash Pad.

Featuring local artists:
Musicians: Tenzin Chopak & Emmett Scott, Dave Davies, Brian Earle, Benny Bleu, and the Falling Waters Trio (Hope Grietzer, Tom Hodgson & Rick Manning).

Featured photographers: Dede Hatch, Tenzin Chopak, Rachel Hogancamp, Julian Euell, Frank Muller and Dan Segal.

Community Artists: Kris Altucher, Manuel Amzallag, Muhammad Arif, Tommy Beers, Linda Byard, Paul Dawson, Linda Edsall, Coleen Foley, Sonia Jirka, Tracey Lynn Myers, Bob Riter, Tonya VanCamp and organizations providing photos: Finger Lakes Land Trust, Wharton Studio Museum & Friends of Stewart Park.

READ PROGRAM DETAILS HERE

Advanced tickets available at tax-deductible donation levels of $15, $20, and $25 plus fees.
Tickets at the Door available at tax-deductible donation levels of $20, $25, and $30 plus fees.

This is a past event. For current events, please visit stewartpark.org/events

Join us for the ribbon cutting of “Ithaca’s Waterway to the World”, a new interpretive sign created by Friends of Stewart Park and made possible by the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor.

This event will be followed by a tour of historic Stewart Park hosted by Friends of Stewart Park, Wharton Studio Museum & Historic Ithaca. The tour will focus on the park's history and its current revitalization.

This is a past event. For current events, please visit stewartpark.org/events

Join Friends of Stewart Park and Wharton Studio Museum for our 8th annual Party for the Park fundraiser! 

We’re celebrating a groundbreaking year for Stewart Park with its being added to the National Historic Register and the literal imminent groundbreaking for the Splash Pad and seasonal restroom, plus upcoming Picnic Pavilion Addition. The addition paves the way for the Wharton Studio & Cafe’.

There will be music, food by Chef Jack Cesari & Company, dessert and local beverages. Remarks, awards and a raffle round out the night.

If you cannot join us, please consider making a gift towards the event.

Thank you to this year’s Party for the Park Sponsors:

 Bero Architecture
Bousquet Holstein PLLC
City Harbor
Coughlin and Gerhart LLP
Fingerlakes Wealth Management
Iron Design
La Tourelle Hotel and Spa
Parkitects
The Plantsmen Nursery
Play By Design
Visions Federal Credit Union

This is a past event. For current events, please visit stewartpark.org/events

WATERMUSIC HAS MOVED TO ITS RAINDATE OF SUNDAY, AUGUST 13 5:30-7:30 PM

On the Cayuga Waterfront Trail and Cayuga Inlet between Inlet Island,
the Ithaca Farmers Market and Dragon Boat Docks in Cass Park

WaterMusic & Dancing on the Trail is an annual quirky and fun celebration of music and dance performed at various locations on the Cayuga Inlet and along the Cayuga Waterfront Trail for the enjoyment of paddlers and trail users. Join us for an evening of surprises along Ithaca’s lovely Waterfront Trail between Lookout Point (Boatyard Grill), the Ithaca Farmers Market and the Dragon Boat docks.  

RENT A PADDLECRAFT FROM PADDLE-N-MORE FOR THE EVENT! USE CODE FRIENDSOFSTEWART23 TO SAVE 20%

THIS YEAR’S PERFORMERS:

1. Fly By Night (Old Time) at Dragon Boat Dock

2. Nikolai Ruskin (Violin) at Inlet Overlook

3. Triphammer Arts Dancers at Cass Bird Garden 

4. London McDaniel (Jazz) at Rowing Finish Line

5. Djug Django (Swing) at Lookout Point

6. Six Mile Craic (Irish) at Crew Cove Overlook

7. Sow’s Ear at Farmers Market Trailhead 

Please note that there is a wedding at the market on the 12th so the Pier will not be a WaterMusic Stage.

8. WaterGrass (Bluegrass) on Floating Stage

This program is made possible in part with funds from the Statewide Community Regrants program from the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of the office of the Governor and NYS Legislature, and from Tompkins County; administered by the Community Arts Partnership of Tompkins County.   

This is a past event. For current events, please visit stewartpark.org/events

Join Cayuga Bird Club’s Lisa Wood for a guided spring bird walk in Stewart Park!

Bird walks are happening the 3rd Saturday of the month in April, May and June. Dress for the weather, bring your binoculars, and meet at the Cascadilla Boathouse at 9:00 am.

This is a past event. For current events, please visit stewartpark.org/events

Pop over to Stewart Park for an hour or two Tuesday, June 13 between 4:00 pm and 6:30 pm for a Weekday Work Party! We'll be trimming back invasive vegetation by the lake, working the garden beds along the waterfront trail. Together we'll improve views of the lake and beautify the park for summer!

Wear boots and gloves if you can and bring hand trimming tools (we have some as well). Meet at the DPW garage door of the Wharton Building.

*rain date June 14

(Location details: as you drive between the two large buildings, the Wharton Building is on your left and the DPW garage is on the far side facing the playground)

This is a past event. For current events, please visit stewartpark.org/events

Join Cayuga Bird Club’s Marc Devokaitis for a guided spring bird walk in Stewart Park!

Bird walks are happening the 3rd Saturday of the month in April, May and June. Dress for the weather, bring your binoculars, and meet at the Cascadilla Boathouse at 9:00 am.