Lincoln Park Middle School unveiled an Inka khipu artwork display on Friday afternoon. Students from the school had been working on a math lesson and community art project for Hispanic Heritage Month involving Inka khipu. A khipu is a series of knotted strings used by the Inka to communicate and keep numerical and organizational records and languages.

The work is inspired by Mexican American artist Gabriel Dawe. Students were able to learn and work on the art project before school and during lunch. Students were asked to pick a color for the string and a number less than 1,000 that was important to them.

Math interventionist Rachel Breckenridge knotted the strings, representing the number of students who participated and added it to the collection. “When I’ve taught about the CPU in the past, a lot of people haven’t heard of it, and they are really fascinated by it. So now, almost the whole building knows about it and hope everybody in the building knows about it,” said Breckenridge.

In total, 123 strings were used by students to assemble in a pattern that would mimic a spectrum of light.