The Council for the Arts at MIT (CAMIT) is a group of several dozen alumni and friends of MIT who support and promote the arts at the Institute. Annual donations by CAMIT members fund a wide array of programs and arts events at MIT, including grants funding to arts projects, recognizing excellence through arts awards, providing access to arts experiences in the Greater Boston area, and supporting the core arts units at MIT.
Council members are alumni and friends with a strong commitment to the arts and serving the MIT community, and the Council’s programs are funded by the annual contributions of its members.
CAMIT-Funded Programs
Grants
Since its establishment, the Council has given over $4 million in grants for almost 3,000 arts projects created by MIT students, faculty, and staff.
Allocations to MIT’s Core Arts Units
The Council provides annual funding to various MIT arts entities, including:
• List Visual Arts Center
• MIT Museum
• Program in Art, Culture and Technology (ACT)
• Center for Art, Science, and Technology (CAST)
• Music and Theater Arts
• W20 Student Art Studios
Arts Access
Together with several endowments established by its members, CAMIT underwrites free or heavily discounted tickets and memberships for MIT students to attend local arts experiences and performances, including the Museum of Fine Arts, the Institute of Contemporary Art, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the Boston Philharmonic, and the Huntington and Speakeasy Theaters.
Current Members
Ann Chase Allen
David T. Altshuler
Karen W. Arenson
Haejin Baek*
David Bakalar
Silvia Barbieri
Mel A. Barkan
George P. Beal
Ellen Berman
Anne Blomstrom
Marcel Botha, Chair*
Somak Chattopadhuay*
Rhea G. Cohen
Ron H. Cordover
Niels J. Cosman
Liz D. Coxe
Brit d’Arbeloff
Sylvia A. de Leon
Margaret Dunn
Sunny A. Dupree
Eran Egozy
Mark R. Epstein
Yildiz Ferri
Paul A. Gluck*
Sherwin Greenblatt
Benjamin Gulak
Susan Eve Haar*
Isabel Hardy*
Caroline B. Huang
Barbara J. Hughey
Fady Jameel
Mimi Jensen
Prabha Kannan*
Lillian Kiang
Wendy Kistler
Sheila P. Lemke*
Larisa Leventon
Nancy T. Lukitsh
Flora Major
Laird M. Malamed
Lore Harp McGovern
Colleen Messing
Andrea Nasher
Federica Olivares
Philip Palmedo
Jane Pappalardo
Hyun-A C. Park
Jennifer Perini
Janet B. Plotkin*
Susan M. Poduska
Cynthia L. Reed
Martin N. Rosen
Sara-Ann Sanders
Sachi Sato
Rob Scalea
Bob Schaffer
Susanne Seitinger
Debby Stein Sharpe
Andrew Silver
Megan J. Smith
Mike Speciner
Gene E. Stark Jr.
Rick and Terry Stone
Glenn P. Strehle
Bruce D. Sunstein
Martina Swart
Phillip Tiongson
Caroline W. Wang
Joyce Wang
Peter J. Wender
Tracy Taylor Wydra
Sally X. Yu*
Ms. Gisele Yung*
Ex Officio
Emily Peckham
*Executive Committee
How to Join
Council members are appointed for 3-year, renewable terms by MIT’s president to serve as advocates and ambassadors for the arts at MIT. Members make annual tax-deductible contributions of at least $5,000, which directly fund CAMIT programs.
Please contact Marcel Botha, Chair of the Council for the Arts at MIT or Emily Peckham, Director of CAMIT with any questions or to discuss membership by emailing council-arts@mit.edu or calling (617) 253-4005.
History
In 1972, Catherine N. “Kay” Stratton and Jerome B. Wiesner (the 13th president of MIT), established the Council to strengthen the arts at MIT and to expand arts funding. As MIT president, Wiesner transformed the Institute, recognizing that being the best in science and engineering was not enough–that tomorrow’s leaders also need to integrate the arts and humanities into their thinking about engineering, science, technology, and policy.
For the celebration of the 40th anniversary of CAMIT’s founding, the Council commissioned a short film about its history.
For more information, contact
Emily Peckham
Director, Council for the Arts at MIT
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