Art expands at MIT

Artfinity Festival draws inspiration, crowds and cultures from all over

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Each year, thousands of people come to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to explore the latest developments in human achievement. While the school may be known for pioneering digital computing and space exploration (among other realms), there is also a very artistic side to the institute.

This focus on the arts will be emphasized with the opening of the Edward and Joyce Linde Music Building on Feb. 15 and the launch of the new Artfinity Festival, which will offer free performances and events from Feb. 15 through May 1.

According to Artfinity co-director and MIT music professor Marcus Thompson, the festival has its origins in MIT’s Festival of Arts, Science and Technology (FAST) that put the arts alongside the scientific realms for which the school may be best known.

“This time,” Thompson said, “we are doing a festival of arts of all kinds … as a means of … celebrating the human dimension and the human spirit.”

Boston Chamber Music Society PHOTO: Courtesy of the artists

As the community at MIT is diverse, so too are Artfinity’s offerings, which include a series of film screenings on March 7 and 8 and student-produced works that will be shown on campus Feb. 28 through March 16, an ekphrastic poetry contest (in which each poem responds to a work of art in MIT’s collection) and the festival finale, during which designer Es Devlin will be presented the 2025 Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts. Thompson will be performing March 15 with the Boston Chamber Music Society, for which he serves as artistic director.

In addition to celebrating the fact that more than 50% of undergraduates are enrolled in arts courses, Thompson is also excited about the opening of the Linde Building.

“The new music building is in the heart of the campus,” he pointed out, noting that the facility includes large areas dedicated to non-Western music, including African drumming and Balinese Gamelan. He noted that this “is further evidence of the centrality of the arts at MIT and in the lives of our students.”

For Thompson, Artfinity represents “the first time the focus has been only arts” and “demonstrates the focus on the huge variety of arts experiences at MIT.”

Among Thompson’s colleagues who are encouraging the institute’s artistic focus are music professors Natalie Lin Douglas and Miguel Zenón. When not teaching at MIT, Douglas is artistic director for the artist-led Kinetic Ensemble, which will be participating Feb. 17 through 22 in performances that, she said, “celebrate human invention, cultural heritage and the natural world,” and that, thanks to MIT’s advanced technology, will involve surround sound and other immersive elements.

“It’s an exciting time for the arts at MIT,” Douglas said, citing Kinetic’s contribution as “just a small part of a larger movement recognizing the importance of fostering arts and creativity at the Institute.” As art sparks innovation, Douglas sees it as very much in keeping with the Institute’s mission.

“It also strengthens community,” she added, “which is essential for a campus to thrive.”

While Zenón admits that many students are not aware of MIT’s music program even after enrolling, he sees how many become involved as soon as they learn about it and feels confident that Artfinity will encourage more artistic involvement and appreciation.

“A lot of people do not see MIT as a bastion for music or the arts in general,” said Zenón, who will be performing his Grammy-nominated musical exploration of the immigrant experience called “Golden City” on March 14, premiering “Summit” with the MIT Brass Ensemble at Artfinity’s opening concert on Feb. 15 and appearing with Kinetic on March 22, “[but] there is a really deep tie between the natural sciences and the arts, particularly music.”

Even many of Zenón’s colleagues in other departments participate in music and use the realms of creativity and improvisation that are so integral to the art form in their projects.

“I am hoping this [festival] will cement that idea,” Zenón said, “and make it less weird to think of MIT and the arts in the same sentence.”