In more recent years, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) has evolved into STEAM, adding Art as a crucial element in education and highlighting the interconnectedness of hard sciences with creative pursuits like visual art and design.
In the fall of 2023, OMSI began a partnership with the Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) in Portland that would perfectly encapsulate how art and math were not only intertwined but could best be appreciated and understood when paired.
In PNCA’s Visual Mathematics class, undergraduate students learned about symmetry groups, tessellations, non-Euclidian geometry, knot theory, and other types of mathematical phenomena that are observable and part of designs used historically across cultures.
The students’ culminating assignment was to design a poster communicating one of the visual mathematical phenomena in a visually engaging format that would be accessible for young audiences.
The final posters did just that, pairing bright colors and vibrant visuals with the mathematics that undergirded each design. Fractals, Celtic symmetry, Native American frieze patterns—the posters, together, painted a perfect picture of how culture, art, and math could enhance the stories each told.
Check out the posters from the most recent class of students!
Read more stories about the museum on the OMSI Blog!