The Council for the Arts at MIT (CAMIT) is made up of alumni and friends of the arts at MIT who champion arts engagement at MIT. CAMIT funds grant programs to support artistic projects that engage the MIT community.
Grants Committee Funding
The Council’s Grants program provides funding to current MIT faculty, staff, and students in support of a wide range of art projects that directly engage the MIT community. The average award is typically around $2,500. Maximum funding awards are capped at $5,000 (rare exceptions may be made for projects requiring funding above this amount). Only one grant project per applicant per academic year will be funded, and projects must be completed prior to graduation/leaving MIT. Projects cannot be part of regular class assignments and should be on a timeline to be completed within six months to one year from the date of the award.
Schedule, Eligibility, and Process
-Application deadlines in fall and spring
-Requests of up to $5,000
-Students, staff, and faculty* are eligible to apply
*Faculty may apply to CAMIT for projects that focus on student and community engagement. For projects with a primary focus on faculty research and artistic practice, faculty should apply to CAST. Applicants with current CAMIT- or CAST-funded projects must complete those projects before applying for additional funding, and may only apply to one grant program (CAST or CAMIT) at a time.
For graduate students in the Art, Culture, and Technology (ACT) program: graduate students in their first and second semesters should apply directly to ACT for project support provided by CAMIT and administered by ACT. Graduate students in their third or fourth semester are eligible to apply directly to the Council for funding to support artistic projects that include strong MIT community engagement.
Visit our How to Apply page to learn more about how to begin the application process and read more about previously-funded projects.
Student Arts Mini Grants
Mini Grants are capped at $500 and can be used to support ideation, prototyping, and small-scale arts projects whose end goal is to engage the MIT community.
Grants may not be used to fund projects for class credit or thesis work, but may be used to expand on a project originally created in academic coursework.
Schedule, Eligibility, and Process
-Rolling applications; submit any time during the academic year
-Current MIT students and student groups in all programs and schools are eligible to apply
-Applicants may receive no more than $500 total in mini grant funding per academic year
Learn more and submit an application for mini grant funding.
What can arts grant funding be used for?
Eligible expenses:
- Materials
- Equipment/software rentals
- Equipment/software purchases are funded only on rare occasions. Any proposal for purchasing equipment or software should be discussed with CAMIT staff ahead of time. Only equipment approved for use in an official MIT makerspace/workspace will be considered for purchase.
- Applicants are encouraged to familiarize themselves with MIT’s enterprise software; applicants requesting funding for software will be asked to provide justification.
- Facilities and space rental
- Payment to professional performers, technical assistants, guest speakers, or contractors
- Not eligible in the case of Mini Grants (except ASA-recognized student organizations)
- Payments must be processed through an MIT department, lab, or center (DLC) or the Division of Student Life for ASA student organizations.
- Contracts must be approved by MIT Contracts before any work can begin.
Ineligible expenses:
- Food and beverages
- Printed publicity
- Purchases of equipment except in rare cases (see above); CAMIT does not fund the purchase of laptops, tablets, phones, projectors, or cameras
- Musical instrument purchases
- Stipends for the applicant’s own time or work in creating the project
- Events designed as fundraising efforts for other non-profit organizations
- Projects requiring retroactive support
- Routine curricular activities (classwork, thesis projects)
- Travel and/or accommodation expenses for the applicant(s)