Art and science, an unlikely duo, combine for the fifth annual Creativity in the Arts and Sciences Event tonight and Saturday.
CASE, presented by UF’s Howard Hughes Medical Institute Science for Life program and the College of Fine Arts, starts tonight at 7 p.m. in the Deweese Auditorium in the McKnight Brain Institute. The event continues 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Reitz Union for the public.
CASE is for undergraduate students to showcase their work in three categories: science posters, art/exhibit performance and collaboration. About 200 students, faculty and staff are involved with the event, said Science for Life office manager Christy LaPlante.
Posters created by undergraduates in the Science for Life program will be set up in the Reitz Grand Ballroom. 2-D, 3-D and film art projects will be integrated within the floor plan.
For the first time, people can experience both the posters and the performances, which will be held in the Nadine McGuire Theatre and Dance Pavilion in between the exhibits in the Reitz Union.
“Typically arts and sciences are viewed as very different fields,” said Lindsey Backman, a 19-year-old biochemistry and classics dual major who participates in the Science for Life program. “People don’t take the time to see the connections, both fields require creativity which many don’t see.”
CASE is also a competition. Eight winners in the science posters category can get a chance to win either $1,250, $750 or $250. Six winners in the art/exhibit performance category can get a chance to win either $1,250, $750 or $500, according to the Science for Life website.
In the collaboration category, at least one participant has to be from the Science for Life program and one from the College of Fine Arts. The top three projects will get $1,250, $750 and $500, respectively.
Backman said the event showcases the talents of UF’s students.
“It is an excellent way for students and people all around Gainesville to see all the research that is going on at UF and how much we are contributing to the scientific world,” Backman said.
