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 three grant programs to support arts-making activities among 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 $7,500. Only one grant project per applicant per academic year will be funded. 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 $7,500
-Students, faculty, and staff eligible to apply
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) per application cycle. If you are wondering if a CAST or CAMIT grant is best for your project, contact us.
Please note these special eligibility guidelines for graduate students in the Program in Art, Culture, and Technology (ACT): 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.
Grants Committee Funding: Eligible Expenses
What expenses are funded?
- 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.
- Facilities and space rental; event software/online venue expenses.
- Payment to professional performers, technical assistants, guest speakers, or contractors, as project requires. Please note that all payments to people must be processed through MIT’s financial system (by DLC or Division of Student Life staff). Contracts must be approved by MIT before any work can begin.
Are there any expenses that are not funded?
- Food and beverages
- Printed publicity
- Purchases of equipment for personal use (see above); CAMIT will not fund the purchase of laptops, tablets, phones, or cameras
- 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)
Graduate Student Arts Project Seed Grants
Seed Grants are capped at $500 and can be used to support ideation, planning, proof of concept development/testing, or prototyping for arts projects whose end goal is to directly 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 graduate students and graduate student groups in all programs and schools are eligible to apply
ACT first- and second-year students are eligible to apply, provided their proposal focuses on prototyping/proof of concept for a project whose ultimate intent is to engage the MIT community.
Learn more and submit an application for seed grant funding.
Grad Student Seed Grants: Funding Guidelines
What expenses are funded?
- Materials
- Equipment/software rentals*
* Applicants are encouraged to familiarize themselves with MIT’s enterprise software; applicants requesting funding of software purchases will be asked to discuss their needs with CAMIT staff and to provide a justification/rationale for exceptions.
Are there any expenses that are not funded?
- Food and beverages
- Printed publicity
- Purchases of equipment for personal use (see above); CAMIT does not fund the purchase of laptops, tablets, phones, or cameras
- 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)
Undergraduate Arts Project Mini-Grants
Mini-Grants are capped at $500 and can be used to launch a project, test an idea, or supplement student organization budgets.
Schedule, Eligibility, and Process
-Rolling applications; submit any time during the academic year
-Undergraduate students and undergraduate student groups are eligible to apply
-In order to support as many projects as possible, 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.
Undergraduate Mini-Grants: Funding Guidelines
What expenses are funded?
- 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.
- Facilities and space rental; event software/online venue expenses.
- Payment to professional performers, technical assistants, guest speakers, or contractors, as project requires. Please note that all payments to people must be processed through MIT’s financial system (by DLC or Division of Student Life staff). Contracts must be approved by MIT before any work can begin.
Are there any expenses that are not funded?
- Food and beverages
- Printed publicity
- Purchases of equipment for personal use (see above); CAMIT will not fund the purchase of laptops, tablets, phones, or cameras
- 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)
Applicants should ensure that they understand MIT’s current COVID-19 guidelines when preparing grant applications and ensure that their proposals comply with them. Please contact us at council-arts@mit.edu with questions.