Design
Media Lab
The Media Lab checks traditional disciplines at the door. Product designers, nanotechnologists, data-visualization experts, industry researchers and pioneers of computer interfaces work side by side to invent—and reinvent—how humans experience, and can be aided by, technology.
The Program in Art, Culture and Technology (ACT)
Courses are taught by renowned practicing artists working in an international arena.
Comparative Media Studies/Writing (CMS/W)
Our faculty is made up of some of the world’s best known media and writing scholars, teachers, and practitioners. From literature, civic media, digital media, design, and data visualization, to television, games, science fiction, and international pop culture, they are … Continued
History, Theory and Criticism of Architecture and Art (HTC)
HTC is a unique program in American education. Its location within the oldest school of architecture in the U.S. focuses attention on interdisciplinary issues in contemporary practice and distinguishes it from the art history departments of universities. A number of … Continued
Architecture and Urbanism
With a group of active practitioners composing the core of the design faculty, Architecture + Urbanism at MIT is centered on contemporary practice.
For Faculty
The Center for Art, Science & Technology (CAST) supports the development of creative projects, artist residencies, cross-disciplinary classes and research that integrates the arts and has significant student engagement or impact on campus.
The Council for the Arts at MIT (CAMIT) provides funding and benefits for MIT faculty members in accordance with its mission to act as a catalyst for the development of a broadly based, highly participatory program in the arts, firmly founded on teaching, practice, and research at the Institute.
Student Performance Groups
In addition to these faculty-led performance groups, MIT boasts hundreds of student interest groups in dance, film, literary arts, music, theater and other interdisciplinary forms. From a cappella singing to improvisational comedy, origami folding to Bhangra dancing, students can choose from a diverse and lively array of arts activities on campus.
Visit theater.mit.edu for more information about student-led theater groups.
For a complete list of student-led interest groups, visit the MIT Association of Student Activities (ASA).
Public Art Collection
MIT’s Public Art Collection reaches across the Institute and may be enjoyed by MIT students and visitors alike. Outstanding examples of work by Alexander Calder, Pablo Picasso, and other major artists grace the MIT campus for all to view.
MIT Museum
The MIT Museum’s galleries, exhibitions, demos, workshops, performances, conversations, and debates invite visitors to participate in the ongoing adventure of research and innovation. The Museum displays objects from it vast collection, and features rotating exhibitions on a wide range of … Continued
Free for MIT ID holders and the last Sunday of each month, September through June
Directions + Map
OPEN: Seven days a week, 10:00am–5:00pm, except major holidays
List Visual Arts Center
The List Visual Arts Center is a creative laboratory that provides artists with a space to freely experiment and push existing boundaries. As the contemporary art museum at MIT, the List Center presents a dynamic program of six to nine … Continued
Admission and programs are FREE and open to the public
Directions + Map
OPEN: Tuesday–Sunday 12:00–6:00pm; and until 8:00pm on Thursdays. Closed Mondays and major holidays.
MIT Arts Startup Incubator
Workshops + Mentorship + Compete for $15,000 Formerly known as the Creative Arts Competition, the MIT Arts Startup Incubator was established in 2013 to foster arts-focused ventures at the Institute. The $15,000 prize is awarded to help launch the winning … Continued
Visiting Artists
The MIT Center for Art, Science & Technology (CAST) Visiting Artists program is distinctive for its emphasis on the research and development phase of artistic work. In addition to presenting new work, residencies embed artists in the ongoing research and teaching at MIT, where scientists and engineers are open to artists’ speculative and hands-on way of working. The program hosts artists from a wide range of visual and performing arts disciplines each academic year, exposing students to the creative process and fostering cross-fertilization among disciplines.
The Dasha Zhukova Distinguished Visiting Artist Program, launched in Fall 2016, creates the opportunity for artists to shape new creative projects over a period of two years of sustained, in-depth research and development.
Visiting Artist Collaborations are supported by the Ida Ely Rubin Artists in Residence Fund, Abramowitz Memorial Lectureship Fund, and the Alan W. Katzenstein (1942) Memorial Fund.
Read more about the programs that CAST has sponsored in the 2012-14 Program Report (PDF), 2014-15 Program Report (PDF), 2015-16 Program Report (PDF), 2016-18 Program Report (PDF), 2019-20 Program Report (PDF), and 2021-22 Program Report (PDF).
Wiesner Student Art Gallery
MIT Wiesner Student Art Gallery A space for students to exhibit their artistic endeavors, both academic and co-curricular Lauren Gideonse and Adriana Giorgis’s Mason Wycoff House or Where does the Money Come From To Keep Houses in Use. 24”x36”, photograph, … Continued
