DOWNTOWN TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — Florida State University is partnering with FSU art history, art education, and music education is partnering with the Challenger Learning Center and the National Weather Service to put on the "It's the Weather!" event Saturday, Feb. 7th.
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A yearly festival at Florida State University is merging weather science with creative arts to spark curiosity in the next generation of artists and scientists.
The Festival of Creative Arts, hosted annually by FSU, kicks off this weekend with "It's the Weather!" on Saturday at the Challenger Learning Center. The event focuses on weather and nature through artistic expression while exploring the scientific world around us.
"Printed art, music, theatre arts, motion picture arts. All of those are components of storytelling, and that's the biggest thing we are trying to do. I can give you all of the facts about how weather works, but if there is not a story behind it, it is not going to be meaningful to you," Alan Hanstein said.
Hanstein serves as executive director at the Challenger Learning Center.
Interactive activities will transform complex weather, nature and scientific phenomena into engaging and memorable experiences. One highlight features FSU Professor Stephanie Leitch, who will present how clouds have influenced art from the Italian Renaissance to modern cinema.
Leitch plans to showcase Giorgione's painting "The Tempest," then jump forward over 500 years to examine a sky-high stunt performed by Tom Cruise in "Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning."
"We're looking at a scene from the Final Reckoning where Tom Cruise is hanging off a biplane and its wizzing by, and I hope to be able to contribute something to why clouds are important to that kind of cinematography," Leitch said.
Leitch is a professor of art history at FSU.
All visitors, including children, can participate in hands-on activities exploring snowflake anatomy through photography and using pinwheels to demonstrate wind and motion. The National Weather Service will bring a full-sized weather balloon to the event.
"If it's even half as fun as it was last year, it's going to be amazing," Hanstein said.
The free festival runs through March 1st with events scheduled throughout the month. You can find a full list of events here.
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