The Laya and Jerome B. Wiesner Student Art Awards 

The Laya and Jerome B. Wiesner Student Art Awards are presented annually to individual students (undergraduate or graduate) or MIT groups (.i.e., living groups, student organizations) for outstanding arts-related contributions to the MIT community. Up to four awards are made annually. An endowment fund provides a $2,000 award to each recipient.

Nominees should display a strong commitment to the arts as reflected in their participation in and leadership contributions to arts-related activities and organizations at MIT; the impact of those contributions and achievements on the MIT community; and the potential of their contributions to have a lasting impact at MIT.

MIT community members who are considering nominating individual student candidates based on significant contributions to a single student-led arts organization are encouraged to consider nominating the organization as an entity in recognition of the collective contributions and involvement of an organization’s leadership team and members.

Established by the Council for the Arts at MIT in 1979, these awards honor past MIT President Jerome B. Wiesner and Laya Wiesner for their commitment to the arts at MIT.

 

Submit a nomination for the 2025 Laya and Jerome B. Wiesner Student Art Awards. Nomination deadline: March 14, 2025.

Nomination letters may be a maximum of 4500 characters (approximately 700-900 words). Nominees may have a maximum of three nominators total (in a combined letter or in separate nomination letters). If a student is nominated by a peer, we recommend (but do not require) that they also request a nomination from a faculty or staff advisor.

 

For more information, please contact council-arts@mit.edu.

Wiesner Award winner Kidist Adamu in a studio looking up and to the right, illuminated by low-key red light.

2023

Kidist Adamu ’23, Computer Science and Writing

Cici Mao BS ’22 MS ’23, Aerospace Engineering

Tristan Shin ’23, Music and Mathematics Major, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Minor

Tianyuan (Margaret) Zheng ’23, Mathematics and Computer Science Major
Music Minor

 

Read an article about the 2023 Wiesner Student Art Award recipients.

2022

Julia Chatterjee ’22, Mechanical Engineering/ Sustainable Design

Montse Garza ’22, Theater Arts and Computer Science & Engineering

Stuti Khandwala ’23, Biological Engineering and Computer Science & Engineering

Karyn Nakamura ’23, Art and Design

Read an article about the 2022 Wiesner Student Art Award recipients.

A student poses on a staircase.
Image: Amalia Lee. Courtesy of the artist.

2019

Amalia Lee ’19, Materials Science and Engineering
Pip Mothersill G, Media Lab (Object-Based Media Group)
Garrett Souza ’19, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Gary Zhexi Zhang G, ACT

Read an article about the 2019 Wiesner Student Art Award recipients.

Two students perform on a stage with blue and purple lighting.
Jake Gunter's lighting design for 'Small Infinities.' Isaac Newton in the foreground, played by Ben Spiro '17, and Hannah Smith, Newton’s mother is in the background, played by Sabrine Iqbal '17. Photo: Jake Gunter.

2017

Jacob Gunter ’17, Course 21E (Humanities and Engineering)
Nathan Gutierrez ’17, Course 6 (Electrical Engineering and Computer Science)
Rachel Osmundsen ’17, Course 3 (Materials Science and Engineering)
Hallie Voulgaris ’17, Course 18 (Mathematics)

Read more about the 2017 Wiesner Student Art Award recipients.