List Visual Arts Center
Established in 1985, the List Visual Arts Center (LVAC) is the contemporary art gallery of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (it was preceded by the MIT Hayden Gallery, in a different building). The LVAC is internationally recognized for the 4-6 exhibitions it presents each year in its 6,000-square-foot (560 m2) galleries, which are open to the general public. Admission is free to all, as are most events sponsored by the LVAC, including family-friendly hands-on art workshops.
The LVAC is housed in the Wiesner building, an I.M. Pei-designed, fully accessible facility that incorporates the work of painter Kenneth Noland, sculptor Scott Burton, and environmental sculptor Richard Fleischner, all commissioned through MIT's Percent-for-Art program. The Percent-for-Art program, administered by the LVAC, allocates funds for the commission of artworks in connection with each new campus construction or major renovation project. Past commissions include Louise Nevelson's Transparent Horizon in front of the Landau Building, Sol LeWitt's polychrome floor in the Green Center for Physics, and Anish Kapoor's untitled stainless steel piece in the Stata Center.
The LVAC maintains a permanent collection, primarily sited throughout campus, of over 3,000 prints, photographs, drawings, paintings, sculptures, textiles, collages, and other objects of contemporary art. The public sculpture collection includes major works by such artists as Alexander Calder, Jorge Pardo, Henry Moore, Pablo Picasso, Sarah Sze, and Mark DiSuvero. An interactive map of all publicly situated art is available here.
The Center also maintains the Student Loan Art Collection, consisting of 500 original works of art. Through this popular annual loan program, students may borrow original works of art from the collection for their private rooms or communal spaces. The artworks available for loan are exhibited in a September show, which may also be viewed by the general public. Each year, new works are added to the collection, and selected older works are reassigned to the non-circulating permanent collection. New selections are made with the advice of the MIT Council for the Arts, and usually consist of artist's limited edition prints or photographs.
The LVAC has been the commissioning institution for the Venice Biennales three times at the US Pavilion:
- 1999, artist Ann Hamilton with commissioners Katy Kline and Helaine Posner[1]
- 2003, artist Fred Wilson with Kathy Goncharov as the commissioner[2]
- 2015, artist Joan Jonas with Paul Ha as commissioner[3]
References
- ^ Mary Haller, News Office (3 June 1998). "List duo to curate show for Venice Biennale". MIT News. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
- ^ "POSSESSED; A Lost Patrimony Comes Home". Nytimes.com. 25 May 2003. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
- ^ "Joan Jonas to Represent United States at 2015 Venice Biennale". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 November 2014.