Es Devlin, a remarkable artist and designer, is honored to receive the 2025 Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts at MIT. This prestigious accolade comes with a $100,000 prize and an artist residency at MIT in the spring of 2025, culminating in a public lecture on her work scheduled for May 1, 2025.
Devlin’s artistic endeavors delve into themes of biodiversity, linguistic diversity, and the creation of collective AI-generated poetry—subjects currently under exploration by the MIT community. She is renowned for her public art installations at esteemed museums like the Tate Modern, innovative kinetic stage designs for notable events including the Metropolitan Opera, the Super Bowl, and the Olympics, as well as monumental sculptures for large-scale concerts.
Expressing her gratitude, Devlin states, “I am always most energized by works I have not yet made, so I am immensely grateful to have this trust and investment in ideas I’ve yet to conceive. I’m honored to receive an award that has been granted to so many of my heroes, and look forward to collaborating closely with the brilliant minds at MIT.”
“We eagerly anticipate honoring Es Devlin with MIT’s most esteemed award in the arts. Her creative work will inspire our students engaged in visual arts, theater, media, and design. Her focus on AI and the arts aligns seamlessly with MIT’s significant initiative addressing the societal implications of Generative AI,” remarks Philip S. Khoury, MIT’s vice provost and Ford International Professor of History. “As we launch a new performing arts center this winter and host a campus-wide arts festival in the spring, this presents an ideal opportunity for MIT’s creative community to engage with Es Devlin’s extraordinary artistry.”
The Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts at MIT showcases innovative artists across diverse disciplines. The $100,000 award not only reflects an acknowledgment of the recipient’s past achievements, but it represents a significant investment in their future artistic endeavors. The official announcement was made during the Council for the Arts at MIT’s 51st annual gathering on October 24. Since its inception in 1974, the award has honored 38 notable individuals in performing, visual, and media arts, including celebrated artists like Santiago Calatrava, Gustavo Dudamel, Olafur Eliasson, Robert Lepage, Audra McDonald, Suzan-Lori Parks, Bill Viola, and Pamela Z.
An essential aspect of the McDermott Award is a short residency at MIT, which involves a public exhibition of the artist’s work, extensive interaction with students and faculty, and a gala that gathers national and international arts leaders. The residency aims to provide the awardee with unique access to MIT’s vibrant creative culture, fostering meaningful relationships within the MIT community.
The McDermott Award was established in 1974 by Margaret McDermott (1912-2018) in honor of her late husband, Eugene McDermott (1899-1973), who co-founded Texas Instruments and was a steadfast supporter of MIT. The award is administered by the Council for the Arts at MIT.
This honor is conferred on individuals whose artistic journey and body of work exemplify the highest level of excellence in their field and suggest they will continue to lead in the years ahead. The McDermott Award embodies MIT’s commitment to pioneering, problem-solving, and bridging imaginative thinkers across various disciplines.
Born in London in 1971, Es Devlin perceives an audience as a fleeting community and frequently encourages public engagement in her collaborative choral projects. Her artistic range extends from public sculptures and installations at notable venues like Tate Modern, V&A, Serpentine Gallery, Imperial War Museum, and Lincoln Center to kinetic stage designs showcased at the Royal Opera House, National Theatre, and Metropolitan Opera, as well as during Olympic ceremonies, Super Bowl halftime performances, and monumental illuminated stage sculptures for major stadium events.
Devlin is also the focus of a major monographic book titled “An Atlas of Es Devlin,” described by Thames and Hudson as their most intricately designed publication to date, alongside a retrospective exhibition at the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum in New York. Notably, in 2020, she became the inaugural female architect of the U.K. Pavilion at a World Expo, where she created a structure that collaborated with visitors to co-author poetry displayed on its 20-meter diameter facade. Her work was featured in the 2015 Netflix documentary series “Abstract: The Art of Design.” In recognition of her contributions, she is a fellow of the Royal Academy of Music and the University of the Arts London, as well as a Royal Designer for Industry at the Royal Society of Arts. Her achievements include the London Design Medal, three Olivier Awards, a Tony Award, an Ivor Novello Award, honorary doctorates from the Universities of Bristol and Kent, and the title of Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
Photo credit & article inspired by: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
