The MIT Museum, founded in 1971, is part of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It hosts collections of holography, technology-related artworks, artificial intelligence, architecture, robotics, maritime history, and the history of MIT. Its holography collection of 1800 pieces is the largest in the world, though only a few selections from it are usually exhibited. As of 2023, works by the kinetic artist Arthur Ganson were the largest long-running displays; in 2024 they were replaced by a newer art installation, but some of Ganson's works were reinstalled elsewhere in the museum. There is a regular program of temporary special exhibitions, often on the intersection of art and technology. The overall purpose of the MIT Museum is to "turn MIT inside out" by making MIT's work more visible and accessible to the outside world. In addition to serving the MIT community, the museum offers numerous outreach programs to school-age children and adults in the public at large. The widely attended annual Cambridge Science Festival was originated by and continues to be coordinated by the museum. In October 2022, the MIT Museum reopened in new, expanded facilities in the Kendall Square innovation district.
History
The museum was founded in 1971 by Warren Seamans, originally as part of an exhibit project of the Office of the President and the Department of Humanities for the inauguration of President Jerome Wiesner. The committee's work was named the MIT Historical Collections in December 1971, and served as the predecessor to the museum. Its purpose was to collect and preserve historical artifacts and documents scattered throughout MIT. The organization was renamed the MIT Museum in 1980, and began developing exhibits and educational programs for the MIT community as well as society at large. Since 2005 the official mission of the MIT Museum has been "To engage the wider community with MIT’s science, technology and other areas of scholarship in ways that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century." The museum is directed by Michael John Gorman, and operates under MIT's Associate Provost for the Arts, who also oversees the List Visual Arts Center and the MIT Office of the Arts. Gorman also teaches in the MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (SHASS) in its Program in Science, Technology, and Society (STS). Former director John Durant (2005-2023) continues to teach courses on the development of science exhibits and communication among scientists, engineers, and the general public. The museum was accredited in 1984 by the organization now called the American Alliance of Museums (AAM), and reaccredited in 2002 and 2013. The MIT Museum also belongs to the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC), Museum Computer Network, New England Museum Association, International Confederation of Architectural Museums, and the International Council of Maritime Museums.
Building and facilities For many decades after its founding, the MIT Museum was located in Buildings N51 and N52 (285 and 265 Massachusetts Avenue), a converted factory formerly occupied by General Radio and warehouse located between the northern edge of the main MIT campus and Central Square, Cambridge. Like many museums, it was forced to shut down public access in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During the next two years, it was relocated into 56,000 square feet (5,200 m2) of new facilities in the Gambrill Center (MIT Building E28, 314 Main Street) in Kendall Square. Originally planned to reopen in April 2022, the museum was debuted in late September. The official public reopening of the MIT Museum in Kendall Square occurred on October 2, 2022. The 17-story office building was designed by Weiss/Manfredi, while the MIT Museum interior spaces in the lower three stories were designed by Höweler+Yoon. The exhibition design was led by Wendy Joseph of Studio Joseph, and the graphics design was done by Michael Bierut of Pentagram. The museum shares the ground floor of its building with the MIT Museum Store and the entrance to the MIT Press Bookstore, and all three are located next to the inbound headhouse of the Kendall/MIT MBTA Red Line subway station. The museum public spaces are organized along an overall left-handed helical (sometimes loosely called "spiral") path that ascends through the three floors of the museum. The exhibition spaces begin with Essential MIT (a glimpse of the research and the people of the MIT community), then proceeds to a more global view of MIT in the world at large (including spaces for temporary exhibitions), and finally concludes with a more-detailed focus on MIT artifacts, culture, and history. A combination staircase and grandstand seating connects the ground floor with the second floor, and another similar structure connects the second to the third floor; a large freight elevator is also accessible to visitors individually or in groups. The lower seating faces an area where performances can be staged, and these proceedings are also visible from the outdoors park behind the building. The upper seating area, called The Exchange, is equipped with a 2-story media wall for lectures and presentations. In addition to the exhibition galleries, there are Maker Hub and Learning Labs hands-on spaces open to all visitors (second floor), and a Collection Workshop for closer examination of museum objects (third floor). MIT Collects, a semi-permanent exhibit on the third floor, showcases hundreds of MIT historical objects in illuminated transparent vitrines attached to the wall in a multilevel salon-style display. Larger items are displayed in freestanding floor-level exhibits, including the mechanical maze-solving mouse built by Claude Shannon, said to be one of the earliest experiments in machine learning. Other historical exhibits include relics from notable hacks (student pranks), and documentation of the history of minorities at MIT.
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