Campus of The Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Artwork

Artwork

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has hundreds of sculptures and other art-related publicly viewable installations scattered across its campus. The MIT art collection includes major works by Pablo Picasso, Henry Moore, Alexander Calder, Jacques Lipchitz, Dan Flavin, Dan Graham, Sarah Sze, Tony Smith, Theodore Roszak, Harry Bertoia, Jean-Robert Ipousteguy, Auguste Rodin, Anish Kapoor, Mark di Suvero, Louise Nevelson, Sol Lewitt, Frank Stella, Cai Guo-Qiang, and others. Many smaller works of art are visible in offices and hallways, and even residences, under the Student Loan Art Program. The MIT List Visual Arts Center oversees the more than 1,500 works catalogued in the MIT Permanent Art Collection, which can be browsed online.

A self-guided walking tour map of major on-campus art is available from MIT information desks or online, and live guided tours are offered sometimes to the general public. For a number of recent "Public Art Commissions on the MIT Campus", a brochure can be downloaded describing the artwork in detail.

In May 2011, the general public was invited to a weekend FAST (Festival of Art, Science, and Technology) tour of temporary art installations, as part of the MIT 150 celebration of the 150th anniversary of MIT's founding charter. The event was well-attended and popular, inviting the possibility of more such events in the future.

Although not part of the MIT campus, the nearby MBTA subway stop at Kendall Station is the site of the three-piece Kendall Band. This artwork is an interactive sound sculpture which was designed and built by Paul Matisse, grandson of French artist Henri Matisse, and stepson of surrealist artist Marcel Duchamp. The sound sculpture proved so popular that it was frequently worn out or broken, disappointing visitors. In 2010, it was adopted by the "Kendall Band Preservation Society", a group of MIT students and staff who have redesigned and rebuilt some of the broken mechanisms (with the approval of the artist) that made the sculpture operate.

• Henry Moore, Three Piece Reclining Figure Draped (1976)

• Jacques Lipchitz, Birth of the Muses

• Paul Matisse, The Kendall Band - Pythagoras (1986–1988)