Campus Loan Art Program

Desks at the Hayden Memorial Library line a wall, displaying four framed works from the Campus Loan Program.

The MIT List Visual Arts Center oversees the Institute’s permanent collections of contemporary and modern art, public art, and Percent-for-Art projects. Through our Campus Loan Art Program, we are able to make artwork from our Campus Lending Collection available to Administration, Faculty, and Staff offices, so that the MIT campus itself serves as our museum.

The Campus Lending Art Program will be on hold as the List Center team conducts an audit of the entire collection to ensure a better selection of artworks for administration, faculty, and staff offices. An announcement will be posted on the website once we return to our normal operations for the program.

Borrowing Artwork

Faculty and Staff interested in borrowing artwork must make an appointment with the Collections Registrar to visit our offices and view available artworks. Artwork selection varies throughout the year, as the collection is in a constant state of flux due to office renovations and moves, and an ever-changing Institute population. Typically, a variety of prints, photographs, paintings, and small-scale sculptures in numerous styles are available.

Schedule an appointment with the Collections Registrar through our online scheduler.

Calendar appointments are available on a rotating monthly basis. Reservations go quickly so if there are no appointments available please check back. 

Prior to scheduling an appointment, please review our Terms and Conditions for Campus Art Loans.

During your appointment, artwork(s) selected for lending are put on hold and our Preparator will arrange a time to schedule a site visit and then deliver and install the artwork. Objects will be held up to 3 months, and then be available to other faculty and staff, unless the Borrower reaches out to the Registrar beforehand.

Loan Fee

There is a $100 per-object annual fee that is charged to the departmental cost provided by the Borrower.

Other costs may be the responsibility of the Borrower (see our Terms and Conditions for further details) depending on the framing and display needs, installation or de-installation requirements, size of object, or damages. All potential costs will be disclosed to you by the Collection Registrar at your appointment.

At the discretion of the MIT List, fees may be waived for artwork placed in sufficiently public spaces. Please make sure that the account is not a Government-sponsored research WBS element. As a Borrower, you will also be required to sign a loan agreement form.

Where Can Artwork Go?

Artwork from our Campus Lending Collection are available for Administrative, Faculty, and Staff offices, and shared workspaces across the Institute. To protect and ensure the safety of the artwork, the List requires that loan locations be attended when open and locked when unoccupied. Artwork cannot be hung near heating or air-conditioning units or in direct sunlight. If there are questions as to the suitability of the space, our Preparator can determine if site conditions are acceptable upon delivery.

Contact

To learn more about the Campus Lending Program, to return an artwork, or in the event of an emergency please contact:

Collections & Lending Programs
listcollection [at] mit.edu (listcollection[at]mit[dot]edu)

Hear from participants

"I love seeing how people react to the space. People really enjoy it and are not expecting an aesthetic experience when they come into a random professor's office. It seems like it’s challenging what others may think an office can look like."

Tess Smidt
Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

A young woman wearing all black stands in her office with a teal wall on the left, two framed artworks on the left wall and one large artwork on the back wall.