Es Devlin
2025 Recipient of the Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts at MIT
Exploring biodiversity, linguistic diversity, and collective AI-generated poetry
About the Award
The Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts at MIT recognizes innovative talents and offers the recipient a $100,000 prize and a campus residency.
The Award
Established in 1974 by Margaret McDermott (1912–2018), the Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts at MIT is bestowed upon individuals whose artistic trajectory and body of work have achieved the highest distinction in their field and indicate they will remain leaders for years to come. The McDermott Award reflects MIT’s commitment to risk-taking, problem solving, and connecting creative minds across disciplines.
The Residency
A distinctive feature of the Award is a campus residency, which includes a celebratory event at which the Award is presented, a public presentation of the artist’s work and significant interactions with students, faculty, and staff. The goal of the residency is to provide the recipient unparalleled access to the creative energy and cutting-edge research found in the MIT community, and to have the recipient connect with departments, laboratories, and research centers throughout the Institute in ways that will be mutually enlightening.
The Selection Process
The Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts at MIT may be given to an artist working in any field or cross-disciplinary activity, including architecture, creative writing, dance, design, filmmaking, media arts, music, theater, and visual arts. Award nominees are identified by an Advisory Committee, which is composed of international leaders in arts and culture. A Selection Committee, chosen by the Council for the Arts and the Associate Provost with responsibility for the arts, then selects the recipient.
Eugene McDermott
The Award honors Eugene McDermott (1899–1973), co-founder of Texas Instruments and long-time friend and benefactor of MIT. The Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts at MIT was created by Eugene’s wife, Margaret (1912–2018) in 1974 and is presented by the Council for the Arts at MIT.
A geophysicist, Eugene McDermott was a member of the MIT Corporation from 1960 to 1973. The scholarship funds he established at MIT reflect his commitment to education and the public art he donated a conviction, shared with his wife Margaret, that the physical environment of a campus has great influence upon the character of an institution. They commissioned Eugene’s Stevens Tech classmate Alexander Calder to create The Great Sail, which was dedicated in 1966 on McDermott Court, facing the Green building. In 1976, the McDermott family and other friends of MIT made a gift of Three Piece Reclining Figure, Draped, by Henry Moore, which graces Killian Court.
Schedule
Upcoming Events
What’s New in AI? A Conversation with Es Devlin Moderated by John Guttag
Wednesday, April 30, 2025 / 5–6:30pm (reception to follow)
Thomas Tull Hall (Building W18)
201 Amherst Street, Cambridge, MA
Join us for an insightful panel discussion hosted by John Guttag, Dugald C. Jackson Professor of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, featuring brief presentations by leading experts in the field:
- Generative AI, Generative Art and the Library of Babel by Jacob Andreas, Associate Professor, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS)
- Language as a Camera by Phillip Isola, Class of 1948 Career Development Professor and Associate Professor, EECS
- Building Rational Robots by Leslie Kaelbling, Panasonic Professor, EECS
Following these presentations, there will be a conversation and Q&A with Es Devlin about her work at the intersection of AI and the arts, including her groundbreaking Poem Pavilion project exploring the fusion of technology and human expression. Further reading for attendees
Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts at MIT Public Lecture
Artist Talk: Es Devlin in Conversation with Paola Antonelli
Thursday, May 1, 2025 / 5-6:30pm
MIT Huntington Hall 10-250
222 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA
Exploring the expansive artistic practice of artist and designer Es Devlin in conversation with Paola Antonelli, Senior Curator of Architecture and Design at the Museum of Modern Art.
Free and open to the public, but registration is required due to space limitations.
Past Events
MIT Face to Face Exhibition and Discussion
On display: April 28–30, 2025 (M: 12–6pm, T: 10am–9pm, W: 10am–4pm)
Discussion: Tuesday, April 29, 2025 / 5–6:30pm
Thomas Tull Hall, Edward and Joyce Linde Music Building (W18)
201 Amherst Street, Cambridge, MA
Artist and designer Es Devlin and more than 100 members of the MIT community have created Face to Face, a series of drawings that together form a collective portrait of the MIT community. Throughout the spring semester, members of the MIT community attended one of several facilitated drawing sessions in which they drew and interviewed a partner they didn’t know before. Most of the drawings were done by hand, and a few were created through a combination of hand drawing, photography, fine tuning with AI, and projections.
A collection of the resulting portraits is displayed in the round inside the Thomas Tull Concert Hall, in the recently opened Edward and Joyce Linde Music building. Es Devlin and those who participated will convene to discuss the project at 5:00pm on Tuesday, April 29, 2025.
A Design Conversation with Es Devlin
Monday, April 28, 2025 / 5–6:30pm
W97 Design Studio (Building W97-261)
345 Vassar Street, Cambridge, MA
MIT students engage in dialogue with Devlin, whose groundbreaking work spans stage design, public art, architecture, and immersive installations. Further reading for attendees
Climate and Care: A Conversation with Es Devlin
Tuesday, April 29, 2025 / 11:30am–1pm
MIT Long Lounge (Building 7-429)
77 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA
MIT Community members gather for a thought-provoking discussion on Es Devlin’s climate-focused installations, moderated by Ana Miljački. This session explores the artistic and environmental impact of works such as Come Home Again (Tate Modern), Conference of the Trees (COP26), Forest for Change (The Global Goals Pavilion), and Forest of Us (Superblue). Further reading for attendees
Biography
Artist Es Devlin (born 1971, London, England) views an audience as a temporary society and often invites public participation in communal choral works. Her canvas ranges from public sculptures and installations at Tate Modern, V&A, Serpentine, Imperial War Museum and Lincoln Center to kinetic stage designs at the Royal Opera House, the National Theatre and the Metropolitan Opera, as well as Olympic Games ceremonies, Super Bowl halftime shows, and monumental illuminated stage sculptures for large-scale stadium concerts.
Devlin is the subject of a major monographic book, An Atlas of Es Devlin, described by Thames & Hudson as their most intricate and sculptural publication to date,and a retrospective exhibition at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York.
In 2020, Devlin became the first female architect of the UK Pavilion at a World Expo, conceiving a building which used AI to co-author poetry with visitors on its 20 meter diameter facade. Her practice was the subject of the 2015 Netflix documentary series Abstract: The Art of Design. She is a fellow of the Royal Academy of Music and the University of the Arts London, and is a Royal Designer for Industry at the Royal Society of Arts. She has been awarded the London Design Medal, three Olivier Awards, a Tony Award, an Ivor Novello Award, doctorates from the University of Bristol and the University of Kent and a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).
Read more about Es Devlin
Press
The New York Times: Imagining Worlds That Don’t Exist
Dezeen: Es Devlin creates UK Pavilion to represent “culturally diverse Britain” at Dubai Expo
Smithsonian Magazine: Meet the Woman Who Set the Stage for Beyoncé, the Olympics and the Royal Opera House
Work by the Artist
