Awards and Competitions

Burchard Scholars Program

CMS/W Media Spectacle

Laya and Jerome B. Wiesner Student Art Awards

The Laya and Jerome B. Wiesner Student Art Awards 

The Laya and Jerome B. Wiesner Student Art Awards are presented annually to individual students (undergraduate or graduate) or MIT groups (.i.e., living groups, student organizations) for outstanding arts-related contributions to the MIT community. Up to four awards are made annually. An endowment fund provides a $2,000 award to each recipient.

Nominees should display a strong commitment to the arts as reflected in their participation in and leadership contributions to arts-related activities and organizations at MIT; the impact of those contributions and achievements on the MIT community; and the potential of their contributions to have a lasting impact at MIT.

MIT community members who are considering nominating individual student candidates based on significant contributions to a single student-led arts organization are encouraged to consider nominating the organization as an entity in recognition of the collective contributions and involvement of an organization’s leadership team and members.

Established by the Council for the Arts at MIT in 1979, these awards honor past MIT President Jerome B. Wiesner and Laya Wiesner for their commitment to the arts at MIT.

Nominations for 2024 are closed. Learn more on the MIT Student Awards website.

Louis Sudler Prize

The Louis Sudler Prize

The Louis Sudler Prize is presented annually to an individual graduating senior who has demonstrated excellence and the highest standards of proficiency in music, theater, painting, sculpture, design, architecture or film. An endowment fund provides a $2,500 award to the honoree.

Nominations are evaluated based on evidence of individual artistic excellence and achievement; evidence of strong commitment to the arts; and the potential to have a continued impact in the arts.

The prize was established in 1982 by Louis Sudler, a performer in the arts and an arts patron from Chicago.

Nominations open February 14 and close March 27, 2024. Learn more on the MIT Student Awards website.

Harold and Arlene Schnitzer Prize in the Visual Arts

The Harold and Arlene Schnitzer Prize in the Visual Arts

The Harold and Arlene Schnitzer Prize in the Visual Arts is presented to current MIT students, undergraduate and graduate, for excellence in a body of work in the visual arts. Students submit an artistic portfolio for consideration. Applications are considered each spring.

Portfolios are evaluated based upon the coherence and scope of the body of work, as demonstrated by the clarity of inquiry or vision; quality of execution of artistic product; command of medium; use of materials, including technology, computation, fabrication, and research; and demonstrated ability of the artist to contribute to and impact artistic conversations and practices at MIT and beyond.

A generous endowment allows for the award of graduate student prizes of $5,000 each, and undergraduate prizes of $2,500. Recipients also participate in a joint exhibition in the Wiesner Student Art Gallery.

The Harold and Arlene Schnitzer Prize in the Visual Arts was established in 1996 through the generosity of Harold and Arlene Schnitzer of Portland, Oregon. Schnitzer, a real estate investor, graduated from MIT in 1944 with a degree in metallurgy.