Art, Math Collide in 3-D Gallery Display

The Middle School students observed a large drawing on the walls of the Sam Francis Gallery, pulled lines of blue string across the room and worked in pairs to build on the three-dimensional artistic display.

 

This was not your average math class.

 

The eighth-graders in Grainne O’Malley-Ramirez’s geometry class and Jen Anderson’s algebra class were contributing to an interdisciplinary project coordinated by Crossroads artist-in-residence Kim Schoenstadt, who worked with students from all three School divisions in recent weeks to highlight the ways art and mathematics intertwine.

 

The result was an innovative display that Schoenstadt—a Venice resident whose work has been exhibited across the country and internationally—enjoyed with members of the Crossroads community during a closing reception Feb. 9.

 

“People think art just happens, but you have to line things up in certain ways,” Schoenstadt says. “Art, math and science are generally conflated—even though it’s not always seen that way.”

 

Schoenstadt says the piece embodies her interest in exploring perspectives and how people view the world differently—not just in a visual sense, but also in political, social and cultural contexts.

 

The wall drawing—conceptualized by Schoenstadt and executed by students—depicts a mash-up of Inglewood and Palm Springs landmarks, including the LAX Theme Building and Randy’s Donuts. Students then extended the image’s “vanishing points” into 3-D space with blue string, creating a web that enhances viewers’ perceptions of the drawing.

 

“Students had a hand in basically every part of this,” Schoenstadt says.

 

The project empowered students to apply their skills in algebra and trigonometry skills in a tangible setting. For example, Grainne said, they could use angles of elevation to predict where the lines of string would end up across the building.

 

“It’s applying math to the real world,” eighth-grader Mason Stokdyk says. “You think of slope as something on a piece of paper, and you don’t realize how useful it is. It gives you a new perspective.”