‘It's the weather!’: Festival of the Creative Arts to showcase meteorological inspiration

The wonders of weather will take center stage at the upcoming “It’s the Weather!” event, part of Florida State University’s Festival of the Creative Arts.

FSU art history, art education and music education faculty will partner with staff from the Challenger Learning Center of Tallahassee and the National Weather Service to deliver a fun, informative look at the weather and nature. Visitors will have the opportunity to learn about the weather and nature in works of art while discovering scientific facts about our world.

“We’re happy to host ‘It’s the Weather!’ at the Challenger Learning Center as part of the Festival of the Creative Arts,” said Alan Hanstein, executive director of the center. “It’s a fun way to connect science and creativity, especially for younger audiences, while introducing the importance of understanding weather as a core part of STEM learning.”

The natural world has long been a source of inspiration for scientists and artists alike. In her presentation, Professor Stephanie Leitch will start with work from Renaissance Italy, such as Giorgione’s painting “The Tempest,” and take her audience forward more than 500 years to our era, when clouds punctuated a high-flying Tom Cruise stunt in “Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning.”

Two works on art. On the left is a painting showing clouds, trees, a man with a staff, and a woman with a baby. On the right is a scene showing Tom Cruise hanging on the wing of a biplane in front of a cloudy sky. — On the left is “The Tempest” by Italian Renaissance painter Giorgione. On the right, Tom Cruise hangs from a biplane in a cloudy sky for “Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning.” Stephanie Leitch, a professor of Northern European art and the history of graphics, will explore the role of weather in both works during a presentation on Saturday at the Festival of the Creative Arts event “It’s the Weather!”

Other activities include “weather weaving,” in which meteorological data is transformed into art, and the short film “Chance of Rain,” a visual contemplation of weather.

“It’s the Weather!” will take place:

Saturday, Feb. 7

10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Challenger Learning Center of Tallahassee

200 S. Duval St.

The fun and learning will continue at the Challenger Center during “Storytime Under the Stars,” an evening of classic children’s stories in an enchanting setting.

Join the fun in the center’s Fogg Planetarium for an evening of nostalgia and wonder under a celestial canopy of twinkling stars.

“Storytime Under the Stars” will take place:

Sunday, Feb. 8

6-7 p.m.

Challenger Learning Center of Tallahassee

200 S. Duval St.

The Festival of the Creative Arts will resume on Tuesday, Feb. 10 with the Arts-Health-Humanities Symposium VI from 12-2:30 p.m. at the Claude Pepper Center on the FSU campus. Additional events continue through March 1.

Visit the Festival of the Creative Arts website for more information and a full schedule of events.

A stormy ocean and cloudy sky. The words "Chance of Rain a contemplation of weather" appear on the screen. — A title sequence from the short film “Chance of Rain,” which will be presented at the event. (Courtesy of Keith Roberson)

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