IAP Public Art Tour

January 29, 2026
Public Art Tour
Bright red background with white text that reads "Public Art Tour." In the center, there is an oval image of sculpture made of thirty-three stainless steel polyhedrons reaching from the floor of the Simons Building to the skylight four stories above.

Visual Identity by Gwyneth Koeckhoven

Location
MIT List Visual Arts Center, 20 Ames Street, Building E15, Cambridge, MA 02139
Day & Time
-
Admission
Free, but registration required.
Register

Join MIT List Visual Arts Center on a public art walking tour showcasing the MIT Public Art Collection across the central side of campus. 

Bundle up this January for a largely indoor public art tour to view select artworks and consider how art and architecture have enhanced MIT's campus design, featuring artworks like Sol LeWitt’s Bars of Color within Squares (MIT) and Antony Gormley’s Chord.

MIT’s Percent-for-Art Program, administered by the List Visual Arts Center, allocates a portion of the project funds to commission art for each new major renovation or campus construction project. The policy was formally instituted in 1968, but earlier collaborations between artists and architects can be found on MIT’s campus. When architect Eero Saarinen designed the MIT Chapel in 1955, sculptor Theodore Roszak designed the Bell Tower and sculptor Harry Bertoia designed the Altarpiece. In 1985, architect I.M. Pei and artists Scott Burton, Kenneth Noland, and Richard Fleischner collaborated on Percent-for-Art projects for the Wiesner Building and plaza, home to the MIT List Visual Arts Center and the Media Laboratory.

All our programs are free, but registration is preferred.

This program is weather dependent. Registered attendees will receive an email the day before the tour date if needed to cancel due to weather conditions.

This program is part of the Independent Activities Period (IAP), a special four-week term at MIT. IAP 2025 begins on Monday, January 5, 2026, and ends on Friday, January 30, 2026. Guests from outside the MIT community are welcome to attend all in-person events.