Founded in 1972 by MIT President Jerome B. Wiesner, the Council for the Arts at MIT is a volunteer group composed of up to 100 alumni and friends who contribute time, money and ideas to the Institute's arts programs. Now based within MIT's Office of the Arts, the Council is self-sustaining and operates as a miniature arts foundation within MIT, said Council Director Susan Cohen .
Grants range in amount from several hundred to several thousand dollars.
Council members range widely in age, occupation, and geographic location, says Ms. Cohen, but share an interest in helping the Institute carry out its commitment to the arts as an integral part of an MIT education. Mr. Kunstadter, who resides in New York City but returns to MIT several times a year for Council business, agrees. On Thursday, Oct. 23, in honor of its 25th anniversary, the Council for the Arts at MIT will hold a Silver Anniversary Ball at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts as part of its Annual Meeting. The event will feature a performance by actress, singer and arts administrator Kitty Carlisle Hart of her one-woman show, My Life on the Wicked Stage . A member of the Council for the Arts and active arts advocate, Mrs. Hart completed 20 years as head of the New York State Council on the Arts in 1996.