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Contact: David Perritano dperritano@ahns.org (518) 438-7895 x208

Academy of the Holy Names Teams with Mathnasium to Display Student Art During Math Week

Art will be Displayed in Loudonville, Westmere, and Clifton Park Locations

(Albany) – March 17, 2023. Dr. Martin Kilbridge, President of Academy of the Holy Names, announced today the latest installment of its ongoing Travelling Art Show: a partnership with Mathnasium in conjunction with Math Week. Under the direction of Art Teacher, Dana Sela, and Director of Enrollment Management, Wendy Diefendorf, the show includes exhibits of student art and showings at a variety of local organizations and businesses.

“Bringing art and mathematics together is one of the ways students experience an interdisciplinary world through education here at Holy Names,” said Dr. Kilbridge.

“Tesselations” is currently on display at Mathnasium’s Loudonville location in Newton Plaza and will be at the following locations starting next week:

· 1801 Western Ave, Westmere

· 309 Clifton Park Center Road (in the Clifton Park Center Mall)

For this project, students learned about M.C. Eschler, regarded as the ‘Father’ of modern tessellations, or tilings. He wanted to create tessellations by recognizable figures, images of animals, people, and other everyday objects that his viewers would relate to. He used these figures to tell stories.

“I do a lot of math in AP Art now to get dimensions and proportions accurate. In math, a lot of times when I am tutoring it makes more sense to draw pictures of the word problems, and it helps kids understand,” said Allie Lasch (pictured above), a Senior at Holy Names, who works at Mathnasium’s Loudonville location. “My favorite part of the job is seeing when the math problem clicks for a kid. It is still kind of crazy to me when I teach someone how to add or subtract, or other basic concepts, because it is something they will use their entire life.”

“With Holy Names students representing so many areas of the Capital Region, the chance of someone from Mathnasium recognizing a name on a painting is very high,” said Matthew Sindoni, Director of Mathnasium Loudonville. “In general, showcasing students’ artwork is underappreciated today, but instead should be regularly shared in public spaces, especially considering how closely art is associated with mathematics.”

Any local business interested in displaying the student art should contact Mrs. Dana Sela at DSela@ahns.org or Dr. Wendy Diefendorf at wdiefendorf@ahns.org to schedule a showing or exhibit.

About Academy of the Holy Names

Academy of the Holy Names in Albany offers a student-centered education for girls in grades 6-12 delivered with expertise and a passion for inspiring girls to become active leaders in service to others. The school is one of a distinguished international network of schools sponsored by the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary. Learn more at https://www.ahns.org/.