About the Council
Founded in 1972 by MIT President Jerome B. Wiesner, the Council for the Arts provides support for many performances, exhibitions, arts facilities and co-curricular programs at MIT. All of the Council's work is self-supported; its programs are made possible only through the generous annual contributions of Council members and friends. Council members are appointed by the President of MIT to three-year terms, and, within Standing and Prize Committees, serve as advocates and advisors to MIT's Associate Provost for the Arts.
The Council recognizes that creativity and excellence are at the core of MIT's identity, whether in the fields of civil engineering and physics or in disciplines such as architecture and music. The Council's programs uphold the Institute's commitment to the arts as an integral part of an MIT education.
The Council's Grants Program, without equal at any college or
university nationwide, has awarded over one million dollars since
1974 to more than one thousand arts projects created by MIT students,
staff and faculty. Other Council-sponsored programs for students
include the Excursion Series, which provides tickets to off-campus
performances and cultural events; and the Arts Scholarís
Program, which enables students who are active in all artistic
disciplines to meet and converse in informal monthly dinners accompanied
by presentations or excursions. The Council also underwrites MITís
Museum of Fine Arts Ticket Program, which makes it possible for
MIT students to visit Boston's Museum of Fine Arts for free; and
the Boston Symphony Orchestra Ticket Program, which offers free
tickets to MIT students for selected BSO concerts.
Annual awards in the performing, visual, and literary arts are presented by the Council through endowments provided by its members. These include the Wiesner Student Art Awards and the Louis Sudler Prize for students; the Gyorgy Kepes Fellowship Prize for members of the MIT community; and the Eugene McDermott Award, given to an artist outside of MIT who has achieved excellence at the national level, and whose work the Council believes deserves more widespread recognition.
The Council for the Arts also plays an important role in creating and maintaining arts facilities: establishing a research center for the integration of arts and media technology at MIT, home to the Media Laboratory and the List Visual Arts Center; a suite of music practice rooms furnished with pianos; a facility dedicated to the design and creation of costumes and sets for the Theater Arts Section; and the renovation of the MIT Music Library.
The Council accomplishes these programs through its standing committees. Members are encouraged to serve, and those who do find the committees an exciting vehicle for interaction with all facets of the MIT community, as well as an opportunity to work with fellow Council members.
The Council for the Arts is credited by the MIT community with enhancing the quality of life at the Institute and broadening support of teaching and research in all areas of the arts. Council members become a part of this vibrant community, enjoying fruitful and rewarding partnerships with MIT students, faculty, staff, and fellow Council members; invitations to special arts and social activities at MIT and beyond; and the exhilaration of personal involvement with a vital, world-class institution that nourishes creativity and excellence in all disciplines.
Council Currents is the newsletter of the Council for the Arts at MIT, and is published an average of three times annually. Council Currents is written by Council members, for Council members; it features articles about the arts at MIT, Council programs and initiatives, as well as profiles of notable Council members.
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