art in burton conner by Ankita D. '23
making do in a non-mural building
if you’ve seen any I3 videos01 Interactive Introduction to the Institute for certain dorms, you know that student self expression within living spaces is commonplace and encouraged at the Institute. art completely covers the walls of East Campus, for example, and the murals that exist range from anywhere between a month and five decades old.
however, MIT has recently been shifting away from murals. of the existing dorms, there used to be four buildings where murals were permitted; now, there are just two. Burton Conner and New House were renovated, and with the greater investment in the buildings came more constraints, including a bar on permanent murals.02 aka murals that go directly on the walls this isn’t to say MIT no longer supports student art—there’s just been a shift to impermanent forms of self expression.
East Campus and Random Hall are the only mural buildings left, and East Campus is going offline for renovation at the end of this year. after renewal, students won’t be able to mural directly on the walls, but will instead have access to “fake walls” that enable them to paint freely in a removable way. emphasis on removable.
unfortunately, Burton Conner didn’t end up with this solution. instead, we got a handful of hanging canvases that are dispersed throughout our floors. it’s a far cry from the way things used to be, and students aren’t thrilled with it, which is why the discussion feels very much incomplete.
in my years of involvement in Burton Conner government, I’ve seen how staunch administration seems in their decision to oust murals. I did, however, get a glimmer of hope when the Associate Provost of Campus Planning agreed to meet with a group of students regarding murals during this semester. he was incredible, voicing support for student self expression and affirming our assertion that murals are instrumental in fostering a sense of ownership over a space. despite this, we couldn’t quite see a solution to the issue, but in a follow-up meeting, we discussed some of the underlying reasons why MIT is phasing out muraling. these include:
renovated buildings
with greater investment comes greater regulation; renewal means more eyes and thus more constraints. accordingly, students play a larger role in stewardship over the building, and giving them free reign to paint is untenable.
summer residents
the living communities occupying dorms don’t live there year round. MIT’s summer programs are an important consideration, and permanent murals can make a space inhospitable. the ability to take away and put back art is key in ensuring that dorm space can be utilized as much as possible.
negotiating with students
students don’t always comply with regulations. they get too attached to their murals, which makes necessary repairs difficult. sometimes, students paint where they shouldn’t, and egress maps/signage/emergency devices are obscured.
mural content
there have been instances of murals containing material that is contentious or downright unacceptable.
students have a lot to say about this list, but our rebuttal hasn’t enacted much change thus far. the debate is still in the works and will likely continue for the next couple of years. I’ll be long gone, but I have a lot of faith in the underclassmen to pick up the torch.
in the meantime, we’re trying our best to make our dorm feel like home. since I blogged about the murals of Burton Conner pre-renovations, I wanted to blog about what the current state of art is in the dorm. note that a lot of these works are unfinished since being creative during the semester is hard, and the dorm only just opened in September.
without further ado…
Burton 1
B1 was the first floor to put stuff on their walls. they did an amazing job, and I really admire their creativity.
logo board
the floor logo, with bones for b-one
painted by a ’25, inspired by Georgia O’Keeffe
painted by a ’25, design is from Pinterest (slay)
hookup graph mural
a recreation of a pre-’20 mural, painted by a current ’23.
Burton 2
the burton two peanut gallery
a recreation of the mural that used to be in the stairwell outside B2.
toucan mural
painted by a ’25 with only three colors and one brush that was never cleaned between colors! depicts a toucan, the floor mascot
birthday straw mural
a collaboration between multiple B2 residents to celebrate a ’25’s birthday. B2 plans surprise midnight floor celebration activities for people’s birthdays, and they planned decorating this because the ’25 likes straws and abstract art.
a collaboration between Burton 2 and Burton 5. Burton Conner floors get Inter-Floor Activity Fund (IFAF) money to host socials between floors, and this mural was a product of one.
some more (unfinished) murals:
Burton 3rd
my floor! of our art, some was painted by students and some was sourced from Belgian graffiti artists who gave some of their work to a hackathon.
our logo board
this is an old design sourced from our extensive Google Drive of floor artwork and logos. it’s nice to use previous designs since it feels like we’re maintaining a connection to the pre-renovation floor even though art from decades past is no longer on our walls.
this is called Talking to Myself and was painted by a freshman, who called it a collection of random things that just popped into her mind.
mural based on Currents by Tame Impala
this was designed in 2020 by a current senior. it’s straightforward but great since Currents is one of the most influential albums on the floor in recent history.
tape mural
this was the first art we put on our walls. I knew I wanted to do something with tape since it’s removable and easy to use, so I found a picture on Google as inspiration and went to town. more and more people joined me, and we completed this ‘mural’ in a matter of hours.
pink panther mural
another tape mural, but much more creative! done by a ’24.
my pride and joy! I made this early in the year to add some life to my painfully blank suite walls. I’m pretty proud of it.
all of these were sourced from the Belgian graffiti artist except the tape mural and records, which were painted by the floor.
I really enjoy the diversity of art we have, and although it’s not like how things used to be, I’m happy that the walls aren’t bare, at least.
Burton 4
the logo board, inspired by a mural painted by three ’21s and a ’23 that was on pre-renovation B4.
painted by a ’24. Burton 4 is known as the Players, so this is pretty fitting.
painted by a ’23 and based off this design
Burton 5
B2 x B5 IFAF mural
look familiar?
Conner 2
painted by a ’25 and inspired by a meme she saw about Untitled Goose Game. according to her, it seemed fitting since the game is set in a British town (C2 being the British floor) and the flames reference the floor’s tendency to set off fire alarms.
painted by a ’25, commemorates C2’s “definite LACK of involvement in setting off fire alarms.”
painted by three ’23s and was inspired by a techno party Conner 2 threw this year, where the fog machines made the smoke alarms go off. checks out.
a fun (and slightly ominous) collab between multiple residents. fingerpainting really goes a long way
Conner 3
this floor took a different approach to adorning their walls. instead of murals, they mounted picture boards from several decades past!
Conner 4
Lobby Murals
before the renovation began, each floor was given the opportunity to preserve one of their murals in high quality. these were printed onto canvases and are now hanging in the lobby on the first floor.
and that’s that! it’s interesting to see how current art compares with pre-renovation murals. several floors retained at least one old work, which is nice for longevity purposes, but most art is new. some floors stuck with using canvases, while others brought in new materials, like tape, records, and tapestries. the state of art in the dorm has definitely changed, but it’s still vibrant despite the new restrictions we have.
you may have noticed how the majority of art here was painted by ’24s and younger. these are the students who never lived in the dorm prior to renewal and are only just experiencing what it’s like to be a member of a BC community. considering this, I think it’s wonderful that the younger classes have literal blank canvases to work on. having the ability to make art is an incredible means of bringing people together to shape a floor environment, and I’m happy to see the diversity of art that’s erupted around the dorm thus far. it’s a shame that no paint is directly on the walls, but hey, we’re definitely managing.
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