MIT Public Art Walk

By ALYSON SHEPPARD

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According to a 2006 edition of Public Art Review, it's official. MIT has one of the 10 best campus public art collections in America. And with good reason. Picasso, Calder, Lipchitz, Heizer ... I mean, good god. And these things are out in public?!? Indeed they are. Saturday, Patricia Fuller, curator of public art at the Institute's List Visual Art Center, will prove it while leading an open walking tour of the campus' vast accessible collection. It includes almost 50 major artists' pieces, ranging in materials and methods from copper statues to steel buildings. "MIT's got a great public program, with great artists and world-class architecture," said Jack Becker, editor of Public Art Review. "Plus, [they're] a part of the community, which isn't always the case when colleges are a separate independent entity." There'll also be lessons on the works of Louise Nevelson, Auguste Rodin, Henry Moore and many more. They're all over the place—indoor, outdoor, small, large, hidden and in plain sight. Not to mention the pieces are nestled among buildings from some of the world's greatest architects. Providing it's a brilliantly blue sky type of day, this is the perfect chance to get the question answered that is most asked when walking around the MIT campus: "What the hell is that?!?"

[Sat. 5.17. MIT List Visual Arts Center, 20 Ames St., Wiesner Building E-15, Atrium Level, Cambridge. 617.323.8475. 10am/free. listart.mit.edu]