Apply for Funding from the Center for Art, Science & Technology
The Center for Art, Science & Technology (CAST) was established to create new opportunities for art, science, and technology to thrive as interrelated, mutually-informing modes of exploration, knowledge, and discovery at MIT.
The Center also supports projects that may be difficult to fund through traditional sources or are exploratory in nature but may lead to creative works, significant research, or interesting collaborations in the future.
MIT faculty, full-time instructional staff, and directors or principal researchers of centers and labs are encouraged to submit a proposal for evaluation in the biannual review cycle. CAST does not accept self-nominations by artists for the visiting artist residency program.
CAST encourages submission of proposals that focus on racial and social justice and/or amplify the artistic work and voices of Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC).
CAST is committed to responding to the creative needs of the MIT community. The grant categories below are general guidelines. CAST encourages a wide range of cross-disciplinary proposals for artistic projects and welcomes inquiries from MIT faculty, instructional staff, and directors of centers and labs about how proposals might be shaped in accordance with these guidelines and CAST’s overall mission. Please contact us at castgrants@mit.edu for assistance at any stage, questions about CAST, or guidance on the grant proposal process.
Questions? Contact castgrants@mit.edu
Evan Ziporyn, Faculty Director of CAST and Kenan Sahin Distinguished Professor of Music
Stacy DeBartolo, Interim Executive Director of CAST
David Colfer, Senior Producer
Philana Brown, Producer
Rayna Yun Chou, Producer
Emma Terrell, Producer
Funding Categories
A downloadable summary of grant categories and their distinct purpose, funding level, criteria, and eligibility requirements is available at arts.mit.edu/cast-grant-types.
New & Cross-Disciplinary Class Development
Cross Disciplinary Class Development Fund: Full-time faculty and full-time lecturers may apply for funds to develop new classes that integrate the arts into the core curriculum and engage students from across the Institute in producing new artistic work. Preference will be given to classes that are intended to become a regular part of the curriculum.
Grants range from $30,000 to $50,000, including honoraria for visiting artists and lecturers and project materials for students.
Research & Creative Projects
Faculty Grant: Full-time faculty may apply to develop research or creative projects with significant impact on campus or beyond. Publication projects are not eligible for faculty grant funding. Faculty grants are up to $30,000.
Fay Chandler Creativity Grant: Full-time instructional staff (faculty and full-time lecturers) may apply for grants to subsidize a creative project that will be presented to the public within a year of the award. Awards are a maximum of $7,500.
Global Exhibition and Performance Fund: Full-time faculty may apply to support a performance, exhibition, creative project, or installation of their artwork that will appear by invitation in a major global venue within two years of application. Awards are a maximum of $25,000.
Collaboration with Visiting Artists
Visiting Artist Grant: Faculty or program directors may apply for grants for a collaborative project with visiting artists. Visiting Artist projects must include student engagement and a public presentation and may include master classes, participation in the regular curriculum, or research and development of new artistic work. Awards range from $5,000 to a maximum of $40,000. CAST does not accept self-nominations by artists.
Exploratory Visit: CAST offers small grants (up to $1,000) for exploratory visits for potential Visiting Artists, which can be helpful for establishing the basis for collaborations and full-fledged proposals.
Applications for grants are evaluated by the CAST Selection Committee. A call for proposals is circulated each semester for projects beginning one year later.
Support for Teaching: Artists in the Classroom
Initially launched to support MIT’s remote teaching as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Center for Art, Science & Technology (CAST) will once again offer a lightning round of micro-grants to support Visiting Artists in the (Virtual) Classroom. Each grant provides an honorarium ($250 virtual, $300 in-person) per visit for instructors to invite practicing artists to participate as guest speakers in classes (virtually or in person).
Instructors may apply for up to two class visits (which can be one or two artists, or one or two subjects, whichever is preferred). You do not need to have confirmed the date and time of the artist’s visit in order to submit an application.
Recipients will be asked to submit a brief report to CAST at the end of the term. This initiative is separate from CAST’s semiannual grant cycle. If you have any questions, please email castgrants@mit.edu.
The Spring 2026 application cycle has now closed. We look forward to reopening the next cycle for Fall 2026 over the summer and will share further details once announced.
Distinguished Visiting Artist Appointments
The Distinguished Visiting Artist residency program is designed to support artists who have pre-existing collaborations with MIT faculty, departments, labs, or centers that would benefit from further development and longer duration. With an appointment at the Institute for an academic year, and the possibility of renewal once, the artist recipients have the opportunity and time to pursue sustained, in-depth research and development, and to shape substantial creative projects in collaboration with MIT faculty, students, and researchers.
CAST appoints two Distinguished Visiting Artists, typically every other year:
- The Dasha Zhukova Distinguished Visiting Artist Program is open to creators from across the disciplines of art, architecture, and design.
- The Koerner Distinguished Visiting Artist Program is open to creators from any performing arts discipline.
MIT full-time faculty, instructional staff, or program directors are invited to nominate artists with pre-existing collaborations with MIT faculty, departments, labs, or centers. The pre-existing collaborative work need not have taken place at MIT, but the proposed continuation of the project must be based at MIT.
Nominations are reviewed by a small multidisciplinary committee composed of members who have previously worked on CAST projects, and at least one external curator or advisor.
Application and Selection Process
All funding categories above except Distinguished Visiting Artist appointments are reviewed by a Selection Committee twice a year. Visit About Distinguished Visiting Artists for more information about the nomination procedure.
Eligibility & Renewals
Eligibility
Each applicant is limited to one Initial Inquiry per cycle. Grant recipients are eligible to apply for a new grant as long as they have no active CAST or CAMIT grants.
- MIT full-time faculty: all funding categories.
- MIT full-time lecturers and technical instructors: Visiting Artist Grants, Fay Chandler Grants, and under some circumstances, Cross-Disciplinary Class Grants.
- Directors, curators, or principal researchers: Visiting Artist Grants and Fay Chandler Grants.
- MIT students: students are not eligible to apply directly for CAST grants, but are encouraged to collaborate with faculty members and research directors to propose ideas for art projects or to contact CAST producers to learn how to participate.
- Visiting Artists: We do not accept self-nominations. Artists must be sponsored by an MIT department, lab, or center. Please contact us for more information.
Renewals
- Renewal grant applications for continuation of previously-funded Visiting Artist projects will be considered. Applications should emphasize the expansion of the proposed project’s goals based on the successes and discoveries of the previous collaboration.
- Continuation grants are limited to one follow-up residency after the initial visiting artist project. A previous CAST Visiting Artist may be nominated for a new project with a different department, lab, or center, once the initial project that was granted funding is complete.
- Continuation of Cross-Disciplinary Classes is limited to remaining unspent funds from the original grant allocation. All continuation grants are subject to approval.
Schedule & Deadlines
There is one call per semester and we recommend a minimum lead time of two semesters or nine months from the Initial Inquiry submission.
Please contact us to discuss any questions you may have. When unforeseen opportunities arise, off-cycle requests can be submitted and will be considered in relation to available funds and staff. Please email castgrants@mit.edu with all questions about off-cycle requests.
Spring 2026 deadlines:
Initial Inquiries due Friday, February 27
Full proposals will be due Friday, April 24
Applicants will be notified of funding decisions by May
Selection Committee
A multidisciplinary Selection Committee evaluates the proposals. The 2025-26 committee members are:
Coco Allred, Graduate Student in ACT
Natalie Bell, Curator, List Visual Arts Center
Sara Brown, Associate Professor, Music and Theater Arts
Keelin Caldwell, Director of Engagement and Cambridge Science Festival, MIT Museum
Peter Fisher, Associate Vice President for Research Computing and Data and the Thomas A. Frank (1977) Professor of Physics
Stefan Helmreich, Elting E. Morison Professor of Anthropology
Bill McKenna, Technical Instructor, Morningside Academy for Design
Tobias Putrih, Lecturer in ACT
Alexandra Rieger, Research Assistant, Opera of the Future, Media Lab
Evan Ziporyn, Kenan Sahin Distinguished Professor of Music and Faculty Director of CAST
How to Apply
- Initial Inquiry: The Initial Inquiry aims to ensure basic information is provided without requiring extensive proposals in the first stage. The form requests a summary of the proposed project (up to 1,500 characters), and there is an optional field for additional information.
- Full Proposal: Individuals or groups invited to submit full proposals will develop the application in consultation with CAST Directors and Producers.
- Interview: All applicants invited to submit a full proposal will be asked to arrange a 20-minute interview with CAST Directors after submission of the full proposal.
MIT full-time faculty, instructional staff, or program directors are invited to nominate artists with pre-existing collaborations with MIT that would benefit from further development and longer duration for a Distinguished Visiting Artist appointment. CAST Distinguished Visiting Artist Curatorial Committee (DVACC) reviews and ranks nominations on a rolling basis.
Explore Past Grants Awarded by CAST
CAST Annual Program Reports
2016-18
2015-16
2014-15
2012-14