George Eastman Museum

Join us this weekend to celebrate the life and legacy of George Eastman! 🎉

George Eastman was born on July 12, 1854—172 years ago. To celebrate, enjoy a complimentary cup of Rita’s lemon ice (while supplies last) and lawn games on the front lawn.

🗓️ Saturday, July 11
⏰ 12 to 2 p.m.
🎟️ Free and open to all—no tickets required!

While you're here, help support the Rochester community in the wake of rising grocery costs by bringing non-perishable items to donate to Foodlink. 🛒

📷 Jackie Photography

In the 1990s and 2000s, Lambda transformed Kodak's corporate culture to be more inclusive and won domestic partner and adoption benefits.

Join Lambda Network at Kodak leaders Emily Jones and Dan Sapper in a discussion moderated by RIT historian and curator Tamar W. Carroll about the history and legacy of this pioneering Rochester-based LGBTQ employee resource group.

🗓️ Wednesday, July 8 at 6 p.m.
📍Dryden Theatre
🎟️ Free to all

Presented in conjunction with "Picturing Equality: The Lambda Network at Kodak," now on view in our community gallery, Gallery Obscura. 🌈

📷 Lambda members and allies perform a skit based on the popular TV quiz show, Hollywood Squares, at the 2002 Lambda Network at Kodak's Annual Education Event with Management.

Since 1955, the George Eastman Award has recognized the enduring artistic value of a film actor, director, or cinematographer—from Charlie Chaplin and Audrey Hepburn to Martin Scorsese, and many more. ✨

This year, we’re thrilled to honor Octavia Spencer for her extraordinary contribution to cinema, and you're invited! Join us for the award ceremony and gala on Friday, July 17 at 8 p.m.

🎟️ All ticket levels include reserved seating for the ceremony, valet parking, and admittance to the gala that follows, featuring champagne, desserts, and live music from The Uptown Groove.

Reserve your ticket: eastman.org/eastmanaward2026

📷 Still from FRUITVALE STATION (Ryan Coogler, US 2013), with Octavia Spencer as Wanda Johnson. Photofest/© The Weinstein Company

2026 George Eastman Award Ceremony and Gala Honoring Octavia Spencer The George Eastman Award honors actress Octavia Spencer for her distinguished contribution to the art of cinema.

In the 1890s, movies exploded in popularity across the U.S.—and so did the counterfeiting of early film prints. 📽️

To protect their work under existing copyright law, producers contact-printed their films as strips of sequential photographs on long rolls of paper and deposited them with the Library of Congress. This practice continued until 1912, when U.S. copyright law was revised to include motion pictures.

Today, digital capture and restoration methods applied ethically by skilled film restorers have resulted in paper prints being made viewable as movies with unprecedented levels of clarity and authenticity.

See recently restored paper prints in Paper Prints in Motion, on view through July 5 in 7Crest Financial Partners Hall. ✨

📷 D.W. Griffith (1875–1948), Still from "The Devil," 1908. Restoration by Film Preservation Society, Ruxandra Blaga, in collaboration with the Library of Congress. From the Paper Print Collection at the Library of Congress.