PAUL SMITHS – What do you get when you combine the disciplines of science, art and music into a day-long celebration of their relationship? You get the third annual Paul Smith’s College SAMFest, a day of live music, art and “TED-axe” talks presented by students, faculty, researchers and educators.

According to SAMFest’s website, the event was partly inspired by the popular TED (technology, entertainment, design) talks given by noteworthy speakers since 1984. According to SAMFest’s website, visitors familiar with TED talks should enjoy Saturday’s event.

“We are not officially linked to the TED organization, but we like their style,” the site reads. “Unofficial versions of high-impact TED talks are supposed to use the label “TED-x,” but as Adirondackers, we figure ‘TED-axe’ works even better.”

SAMFest Organizer and PSC Ecology Professor Curt Stager said the idea for the festival came about when he got together with a few of his fellow science faculty members and came to the stunning realization that many members of the PSC science community are also artists and musicians.

“We thought, ‘Well, it would be nice to showcase that and show ourselves and show the world that Paul Smith’s does all of this in creative ways,'” Stager said. “The theme of the whole SAMfest is to either use the arts to get your science information across more effectively or else use science to inform your art, so you lend weight to it.

“We alternate TED-style talks, real short, where whoever presents uses visual arts, music, theater, whatever it is, to get that across, and then intersperse it with music, dance, poetry, that also has to do with that year’s theme of the festival.”

Stager said he and his fellow organizers chose this year’s theme, “The Art of Science and Time,” for a number of reasons.

“We tried to think of something that leaves a lot of room for interpretation so we can have a broad spectrum of people and things that you could sort of quickly imagine, ‘What might a visual artist do?'” he said. “For an example, if you’re doing a painting, let’s say, of a nice landscape in the Adirondacks, it’s nice in its own right, but if you put a story in there and realize, for example, that the climate is changing, what you’re also doing is documenting the way it is now for people of the future when it doesn’t look like that. It adds value or deepens the story or the meaning of your art.

“In terms of the science, one example would be SUNY Potsdam archaeologist Tim Messner. His theme will be the long history of humans in the wilderness here. He found a Native American campsite in Long Lake with a hearth in it 1,000 years old.”

Stager said the festival has grown since its inception.

“The word has gotten out,” he said. “We had maybe 300 people attend last year, so we’re hoping for a good turn out again. It’s turned into a thing that people are putting on their calendars now.”

Although art and music are often spoke of in the same breath, science is sometimes seen as sharing little connection with the two, but Stager sees them as complimentary disciplines that can aid each other in pursuit of the truth.

“As a scientist and a musician, I feel like science is our clearest window on the truth,” he said. “In a really crowded world where it’s really hard to find good information, science is more valuable than ever. Sometimes the problem is getting it across effectively. Sometimes, you can see a number or a chart, and you glaze over and you don’t really grasp it – even scientists have that trouble. But if you can have it hit you on an emotional level, sometimes it helps you understand it better.

“One of the best ways to do that is with the arts because it’s designed to hit you on the emotional level. If you can combine those two, it’s a very powerful combination.”

A photograph of famed scientist Albert Einstein playing the violin posted on SAMFest’s homepage seems to perfectly capture the idea of the festival: science, art and music, together.

“I would encourage people not to miss it,” Stager said. “It’s a great showcase for the college and showcase for the community, to show the amazing things we do up here in the North Country.”