Arts at MIT – MIT Facts (2024)

• 60+

  See Also

  Department of Humanities | MIT Course CatalogAcademicsMIT AdmissionsWhat You Need For MIT: Admission Requirements

  Music, theater, visual arts, writing, and dance groups

• 12

  Museums and galleries
  on campus

• >50%

  Incoming first-year students with training in the arts

  See Also

  The 10 Best MIT Majors: What Should You Choose? | IvyWise

• >50%

  Undergraduates enrolled in arts courses each year

The arts at MIT are rooted in experimentation, risk taking, and imaginative problem solving. The Institute offers highly regarded degree programs in architectural design; art, culture, and technology; comparative media studies; history, theory, and criticism of architecture and art; music; theater arts; and writing. Undergraduate minors are also offered in several of these fields. Many MIT faculty have receivedawards in recognition of their work in the arts, including the Pulitzer Prize, Grammy Award, Guggenheim Fellowship, and MacArthur Fellowship. MIT students are also strong contributors to the vibrant arts culture that permeates campus life.

The MIT Museum presents programs, exhibitions, and events inspired by the spirit and drive of innovation, welcoming all to participate in public dialogue and conversation. The Institute’s past achievements are celebrated through the museum’s extensive and unique collections, while MIT’s current research, innovation, and design provide a catalyst for exhibitions and ongoing programs. The museum also produces the annual Cambridge Science Festival, featuring multiple days of programs and activities. In October 2022, a reimagined museum opened in its new location at MIT’s Kendall Square gateway.

The MIT List Visual Arts Center is the Institute’s contemporary art museum. Its core mission is to exhibit, collect, and commission visual arts for MIT. The List presents six to eight exhibitions annually in conjunction with a broad range of education programs free to both the MIT community and the general public. It also maintains and adds to MIT’s permanent collection of more than 3,500 artworks that includes over 60 public sculptures and hundreds of paintings, prints, photographs, and drawings located throughout campus. The List Center commissions new works for the MIT Public Art Collection through the MIT Percent-for-Art Program, and oversees the Student Lending Art Program that allows MIT students to annually borrow original works of art from the collection to hang in their living spaces.