An example of the fractal artwork done by Woodbridge 151 Math Honors students. Artwork created by Emilio Fogarty. Photo by Stephanie Tipple

Normally when you think of math, you don’t usually associate this with beautiful and interesting works of art, but the liberal arts math honors course set out to change this on the Woodbridge campus. The course instructor, Professor Tony Smith, inspired by a school in California, decided to take his students’ depth of knowledge to the next level when teaching fractals.

When Smith stumbled upon a website called fractalfoundation.org and the works of a Californian school, he decided his students could create fractal art themselves. He said it was an “interesting way for an honors class to learn about the concept of fractals.”

In order to create these beautiful images, Smith’s students downloaded software from the website and then created equations to be used for the fractal art pieces. Once the students input their equations into the software, an image would be created.

Students like Melissa Meidt and Nate Peterson thoroughly enjoyed their experience creating fractal art, and it helped them to link mathematic theory to visual beauty.

Once the students had worked on the equations and created these visuals, Smith sent them on to be printed, so the integrity and beauty of the images remained intact.

Fred Markham, an art professor and assistant dean for the Humanities Division on the Woodbridge campus was also involved in this process, advising Smith on the creative aspects of the project and placement of the art display.
This project allowed the Woodbridge campus to show off student talent within their honors courses.

“It may inspire those who see the images to learn more about math,” said Smith, simply by looking at these images on the third-floor corridor of the main building.

In addition to the promotion of student talent and an exposure to learning reinforcement, these fractal art images have beautified the halls and décor, getting student’s attention for all of the right reasons. The goal is to inspire students, which Smith intends to do with his feature 151 Math honors students.

For more information on fractal art and how to potentially do a project, visit fractalfoundation.org.

By: Stephanie Tipple

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