Map of Cambridge, Massachusetts showing the location of the MIT Media Lab and Compton Laboratories Lecture Hall.

Thursday, May 1, 2025

5:00pm Artist Talk

MIT’s Huntington Hall, 10-250
Building 10, Room 250

222 Memorial Drive


7:00pm McDermott Award Gala

MIT Media Lab
Building E14, 6th Floor
75 Amherst Street

For questions or further assistance, please contact council-arts@mit.edu.

VALET PARKING 

Valet parking will be available for guests attending the Artist Talk and the McDermott Award Gala starting at 4pm at the MIT Media Lab, 75 Amherst Street.  

For valet parking, please observe these traffic patterns:

  • If you are traveling to MIT from the northwest, please use Main Street to turn right on Wadsworth Street, turn right onto Amherst Street, and proceed to the corner of Amherst Street and Ames Street for parking assistance.
  • If you are traveling to MIT from the points West, including the Mass Pike, or from Boston via the Harvard Bridge (Massachusetts Avenue), please use Memorial Drive to turn left onto Wadsworth Street, turn left onto Amherst Street, and proceed to the corner of Amherst Street and Ames Street for parking assistance.
  • If you are traveling to MIT via the Longfellow Bridge, please use Memorial Drive to turn right onto Wadsworth Street, turn left onto Amherst Street, and proceed to the corner of Amherst Street and Ames Street for parking assistance.

Please follow these same driving instructions if you choose to join us for just the Gala at 7:00pm.

TICKETS TO ARTIST TALK 

If you are planning to attend the Artist Talk at 5pm in MIT 10-250, please aim to arrive by 4:50pm to check in. Es Devlin and Paola Antonelli, Senior Curator of Architecture and Design at the Museum of Modern Art, will discuss Devlin’s expansive artist practice. Please make sure you arrive before 4:50pm, as we will offer seats to standby guests. Latecomers may not be seated.

GALA MENU

In alignment with Es Devlin’s artistic practice, the dinner menu will be vegetarian, with fully vegan options available for each course. If you have any additional dietary restrictions, please let us know ahead of time.

MOBILITY AND ASSISTIVE LISTENING

Golf cart transport will be available to and from the Artist Talk for attendees who would like mobility assistance.

Assistive listening technology will be available for the Artist Talk in 10-250 and in the Media Lab for the gala dinner. Please let us know ahead of time if you’ll need to access this.

Please contact council-arts@mit.edu to request accommodations.

STREET ADDRESSES FOR RIDE SHARE (Uber/Lyft)

Artist Talk: 222 Memorial Drive, Cambridge

Gala: 75 Amherst Street, Cambridge

About Es Devlin at MIT

As the 2025 Recipient of the Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts at MIT, Es Devlin will present a pop-up exhibition and an artist talk, and meet with MIT faculty and students in the areas of design, AI, environmental sciences, theater, and more.

Learn more
Black and white photo of three people standing in front of a tall metal outdoor sculpture

About the Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts at MIT

Established in 1974 by Margaret McDermott (1912-2018) in honor of her husband, Eugene McDermott (1899-1973)

The award reflects MIT’s commitment to risk-taking, problem solving, and to the idea of connecting creative minds across disciplines. The award may be given to an artist working in any field or cross-disciplinary activity and is considered an investment in the recipient’s future creative work, rather than a prize for a particular project or lifetime of achievement.

Learn more
Arnold Dreyblatt, Harmonic Archive, 2015. Photo by L. Barry Hetherington.

About the Arts at MIT

Rooted in experimentation, risk-taking, and imaginative problem-solving

MIT has a creative culture where experimentation and innovation cross all disciplines and break all boundaries. With over 25 majors, minors and degree programs; hands-on classes; makerspaces; and 100+ concerts and exhibitions open to the public each year, there are more ways than ever for the campus community to express itself through the arts at MIT.

Learn more