Paul Smith's College gears up for festival of science, art and music

PAUL SMITHS, NY (04/02/2015)(readMedia)-- Paul Smith's College will hold a daylong festival of music, art and TED-style talks on Saturday, April 18, at the Paul Smith's College VIC.

The event, known as SAM Fest – for science, art and music – will feature performances by North Country musicians and poets, presentations on Adirondack climate by faculty and students, exhibits of works by local artists and a showing of "The Resilient Ones," an award-winning documentary about North Country youth who are dealing with climate change.

"Last year's inaugural SAM Fest was a great success with more than 300 people in attendance," says Curt Stager, a professor of natural sciences at Paul Smith's College and the event's organizer. "This year's lineup is just as exciting, with fast-paced, entertaining science talks interspersed with music and poetry."

Special guests will include a group from SUNY Potsdam who will present climate data as Haiku poems, a local maple syrup and ecology expert and the Catholic Climate Ambassador for New York state, who will discuss climate change as a moral issue.

One of the highlights of the festival will be the TED-style talks by Paul Smith's students. "We are not officially linked to the TED organization, but we like their style," Stager says. "Independent versions of short, high-impact TED talks are supposed to use the label TEDx, but as Adirondackers, we figure TEDaxe works even better. So that's what we're calling them. I'm especially looking forward to the student presentations on Adirondack climate, which are customized for local town supervisors, fishing guides, faith communities and culinary arts faculty who will be in the audience."

North Country musicians including Peggy Lynn, Dan Berggren and Jamie Savage will perform between the talks, and there will be displays and activities by visual artists from the North Country in the main gallery. Maple syrup and refreshments will be on sale during the lunch hour, as well.

SAM Fest runs from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $5. The Paul Smith's College community and Friends of the VIC will be admitted free of charge.

For a full schedule of events and more information about the festival, visit www.samfest.org or contact Curt Stager at 518-327-6342.

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