MIT Press promotional display, 1966.
Timeline of the Arts at MIT
Dive into the milestones, events and people that constitute the arts at MIT, dating back to the founding of the Institute in 1861.
An interactive digital timeline
Experimentation, risk-taking and imaginative problem-solving have long characterized MIT culture. In an institution that values mastery of technical skills, novel conceptual approaches, ingenious practical solutions, open-ended questions and multiple paths towards discovery in all disciplines, the arts thrive.
The strengths of MIT’s artistic community over the years have emerged through creative adaptation to the Institute’s distinctive culture as a center of innovation in science and engineering. At MIT, artists have embraced the challenge of inventing new methods, media and technologies for artistic production alongside the goal of creating the most expressive artifacts, performances and buildings. They approach students as co-creators in their artistic endeavors. They are comfortable with the collective creativity of ensembles, labs and studios. The professional practice, exhibition and performance of art is rooted in MIT’s past and indispensable to its future.
A look at MIT’s history shows that its leaders have long understood the profound significance of embedding the arts within a scientific and technical institution, beginning with founder William Barton Rogers.
“Taken together, the arts, science and technology form a triple anvil on which to forge a new kind of apprenticeship for a complex world.”
– Jerome B. Wiesner
President of MIT 1971-1980, Chair of CAMIT 1980-89
For more information, contact arts@mit.edu
MIT SOFT Rockers are smart, clean energy charging stations disguised as outdoor rocking lounge furniture. MIT Killian Court, 2011.
The Festival of Art, Science and Technology (FAST)
The Festival of Art, Science and Technology (FAST) was a prominent feature of the MIT150 anniversary events of 2011. Directed by professor of music and media Tod Machover, FAST presented an exciting, surprising variety of work, embracing past to future, performance to debate, and installations to the unclassifiable.
A campus-wide festival of art, science & technology in Spring 2011
Azra Aksamija, Memory Matrix, installation view, MIT Wiesner Building, 2016.
MIT2016 Open House
The celebration of a century
On Saturday, April 23, 2016, MIT invited opened its doors and invited the public to experience over 40 arts related tours, concerts, installations, exhibitions, demonstrations and workshops. Arts at MIT created an audio tour to introduce visitors to five of the activities by visiting artists, faculty and students.
A celebration of the centennial anniversary of the Institute’s move to it’s current Cambridge location, Spring 2016
György Kepes, 1967.
Integrating the arts and humanities at MIT, then and now
“In our increasingly complex society, science and technology can no longer be segregated from their human and social consequences. The most difficult and complicated problems confronting our generation are in the field of the humanities and social sciences.” This declaration, written in 1949 by the Lewis committee in their “Report on the Committee on Educational Survey,” represents a pivotal point in MIT history when scientists and engineers sought to elevate the humanities within the Institute in response to world events.
An article examining why the arts and humanities have been included in MIT’s educational program
Life Study Class, MIT Boston Classroom.
100 Years of Arts at MIT: The Teens
Highlighting the creative work of prominent, eccentric and beloved individuals in the MIT community and featuring the departments, labs and student groups who contributed to the visual and performing arts on campus through the decades.
An article exploring some of the obscure, overlooked or forgotten pockets of artistic activity at MIT from 1916-2016