List Visual Arts Center facts for kids
The List Visual Arts Center (or LVAC) is a cool art museum at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the USA. It started way back in 1950. The LVAC is famous for its changing art shows in its galleries. It also takes care of a huge collection of art spread all over the MIT campus, even in offices and student homes!
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A Look Back: How the LVAC Started
The first art space opened in 1950. It was called the MIT Hayden Gallery. It was located near the Hayden Library. This space is now a performance hall called Elizabeth Parks Killian Hall. People use it for music, talks, and plays.
In the early 1950s, the gallery showed amazing art. For example, in 1950-1951, they had an exhibition of works by Alexander Calder. He made cool moving sculptures called mobiles. By 1970, the Hayden Gallery was showing many modern art exhibits each year. One famous show was Exploration. It had interactive and light-based artworks. These pieces were made by artists like Wen-Ying Tsai and Takis.
In 1985, the museum moved to a bigger, new building. This building is called the Wiesner Building (E15). It was designed by a famous architect named I. M. Pei. The museum was renamed the List Visual Arts Center. This was to thank Vera and Albert List for their generous gift.
What You Can See at the LVAC
The LVAC is known around the world for its art shows. It puts on 6 to 9 new exhibitions every year. These shows are in its 6,000-square-foot (560 m2) galleries. The best part? Admission is free for everyone! Most events, like fun, hands-on art workshops for families, are also free.
The LVAC is inside the Wiesner Building. This building was designed by I.M. Pei. It's easy to get around for everyone. The building itself has art built into it! You can see works by painter Kenneth Noland and sculptor Scott Burton. These artworks were created through MIT's Percent-for-Art program.
This program helps add art to the campus. Whenever MIT builds something new or makes a big change, some money is set aside for new artworks. Past artworks include Transparent Horizon by Louise Nevelson. You can see it in front of the Landau Building. There's also a colorful floor by Sol LeWitt in the Green Center for Physics. And in the Stata Center, you can find Non-Object (Plane) by Anish Kapoor.
Art All Over Campus: The Permanent Collection
The LVAC also looks after a huge collection of art. This is called the permanent collection. It has over 3,000 pieces! These include prints, photos, drawings, paintings, sculptures, and more. Much of this art is placed all around the MIT campus.
The public sculpture collection has more than 50 big artworks. These are by famous artists like Alexander Calder, Henry Moore, Pablo Picasso, and Frank Stella. People have said this collection is "one of the best of its kind" in guides to American sculpture parks.
You can find an online map to see where all the public art is. There are also audio guides you can listen to. These tell you more about some of the artworks.
The LVAC also runs a cool program for students. It's called the Student Lending Art Program. Students can borrow original artworks for their dorm rooms or common areas! There are over 700 artworks available. Every September, all the artworks available for loan are shown in a special exhibition. Anyone can come and see it. Each year, about 15 new artworks are added to this collection.
Awards and Recognition
The LVAC has been chosen three times to represent the USA at the Venice Biennale. The Venice Biennale is a very important international art exhibition held in Italy.
- In 1999, they featured artist Ann Hamilton.
- In 2003, artist Fred Wilson was featured.
- In 2015, artist Joan Jonas was featured.
