January 24, 2014 — Students with backgrounds in the sciences and arts will come together to rethink the boundaries of creativity on Saturday, Feb. 1 from 9:30 a.m.–5 p.m. during the 2014 Creativity in the Arts and Sciences Event (CASE). Presented by the University of Florida (UF) Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Science for Life Program and UF’s College of Fine Arts, CASE is a family-friendly event that highlights students’ creativity, talent and cutting-edge research. The event is free and open to the public and takes place in in UF’s Reitz Union Grand Ballroom and Studio G-6 in the Nadine M. McGuire Pavilion.

The public is also invited to attend the CASE Kickoff Event Friday, Jan. 31 from 5:30–7:30 p.m. in the McKnight Brain Institute DeWeese Auditorium Room LG 101-A on UF’s campus. Phoebe Cade Miles, founder and CEO of Cade Museum for Creativity + Invention, will present “Creativity at the Crossroads” and Jill Sonke, director of UF’s Center for Arts in Medicine, will present “Arts in Medicine: Bridging the Healing and Creative Arts.” The kickoff event is also free and includes a reception with refreshments.

Now in its eighth year, the CASE features science research posters, 2-D/3-D art exhibits, film, and dance/music/theatre performances. More than 125 students from eight UF colleges and approximately 50 different departments and disciplinary programs as well as students from EMBRY-Riddle Aeronautical University, Emory University and Louisiana State University will compete for prizes in three categories: science, art or science/art collaboration.

UF faculty and administrators, along with experts from the community will serve as judges for the event. Students participating in the science competition participate in required peer-judging of other science posters as part of the competition. More than $10,000 will be awarded to further students’ academic pursuits as an undergraduate. Award winners will be announced two weeks following the event.

“I strongly believe that science requires creativity just as much as art does,” says Dr. Ben Dunn, director of UF-HHMI Science for Life Program. “CASE is about getting students to come together and challenge each other to be creative and find new ways to interact.”

Last year’s event brought together more than 108 student participants and 100 guests. Twenty-one students took home awards, with the top awards going to Katie Moreaux, “A Tripeptide Model for the C-terminal Aminovinylcystein Modification of Lantibiotics,” and Frances Ooi, “A Facile Synthesis of Iron Oxide Nanoparticles,” in the science category; Vassiliki Daskalaskis, “Misterio de los Espejos,” and Oliver Klicker and Giang Pham, “Translation,” in the arts category, and Rachel Damiani and Heather Foster, “Exploring Payne’s Prairie” in the collaboration category.

“The College of Fine Arts is pleased to work with the UF-HHMI Science for Life program to present this wonderful annual event,” said Lucinda Lavelli, dean, College of Fine Arts. “We hope those interested in the sciences and the arts as well as members of the community will join us this year to celebrate the power of creativity and collaboration.”

Follow all the CASE happenings by using the hashtag #2014CASE.

With funding from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Science for Life Program has a mission to strengthen and transform undergraduate research and interdisciplinary laboratory education in the STEM disciplines at the University of Florida and our partnering institutions.

The College of Fine Arts is one the 16 colleges and more than 150 research centers and institutes at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Fla. The College of Fine Arts offers baccalaureate, master’s and Ph.D. degree programs in its three fully-accredited schools — the School of Art and Art History, School of Music and School of Theatre and Dance. The college is home to the Center for Arts in Medicine, Center for World Arts, Digital Worlds Institute and the New World School of the Arts in Miami. More than 100 faculty members and more than 1,220 students work together daily to engage, inspire and create. The college hosts more than 300 events each year and faculty and students also exhibit and perform at other local, national and international venues. Guests are welcome to attend college events and visit the University Galleries, University Auditorium and Constans Theatre, among other on-campus arts venues. To learn more, visit www.arts.ufl.edu.