Bard Graduate Center is devoted to the study of decorative arts, design history, and material culture through research, advanced degrees, exhibitions, publications, and events.

Bard Graduate Center advances the study of decorative arts, design history, and material culture through its object-centered approach to teaching, research, exhibitions, publications, and events.

At BGC, we study the human past and present through their material expressions. We focus on objects and other material forms—from those valued for their aesthetic elements to the ordinary things used in everyday life.

Our accomplished interdisciplinary faculty inspires and prepares students in our MA and PhD programs for successful careers in academia, museums, and the private sector. We bring equal intellectual rigor to our acclaimed exhibitions, award-winning catalogues and scholarly publications, and innovative public programs, and we view all of these integrated elements as vital to our curriculum.

BGC’s campus comprises a state-of-the-art academic programs building at 38 West 86th Street, a gallery at 18 West 86th Street, and a residence hall at 410 West 58th Street. A new collection study center will open at 8 West 86th Street in 2026.

Founded by Dr. Susan Weber in 1993, Bard Graduate Center has become the preeminent institute for academic research and exhibition of decorative arts, design history, and material culture. BGC is an accredited unit of Bard College and a member of the Association of Research Institutes in Art History (ARIAH).

Mark Your Calendars!

Wednesdays@BGC continues in the new year. Mark your calendars for these engaging events with scholars, artists, and curators and look for more details in your email next month.

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Survivance in Federal Indian Boarding Schools: A lecture duet by Nicholas Laluk (UC Berkeley) and Davina Two Bears (Arizona State University) on January 17.

January 17
Survivance in Federal Indian Boarding Schools
A lecture duet by Nicholas Laluk (UC Berkeley) and Davina Two Bears (Arizona State University)

January 24
Fashion’s Hard Borders
A lecture by Emanuele Lugli (Stanford University)

January 31
Fragile Materiality
A Paul and Irene Hollister Lecture on Glass by Daniel Clayman (studio artist)

February 7
Two Thousand Years of Flat-Cut Garments
A lecture by Jenny Tiramani (School of Historical Dress, London)

February 14
Of Buddhas and Bowls
A lecture by Nachiket Chanchani (University of Michigan)

February 28
Cardboard and Dada: Sonia Delaunay’s Costume Design
A lecture by Sydney Maresca (BGC MA student; Williams College)

March 13
At Home in the Philippine Village
A lecture by Janna Añonuevo Langholz (Philippine Village Historical Site)

March 20
From Kid Click to Snapshot Susie: Child Photographer Heroes and Heroines in British and US Comics
A lecture by Annebella Pollen (University of Brighton, UK)

March 27
Poetry of Colors
An exhibition tour of Sonia Delaunay: Living Art with poetry activations by Modesto “Flako” Jimenez (!Oye! Group)

April 3
Eighteenth-Century Fashion and the Decisive Museological Action of French Historicizing Painters
A Françoise and George Selz Lecture on Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century French Decorative Arts and Culture by Pascale Gorguet Ballesteros (Sorbonne Université)

April 10
Everyone Says I Look Like My Mother
A pop-up installation and conversation by Meghann O’Brien (Jaad Kuujus), Andy Everson (Northwest Coast artist), Doenja Oogjes (Eindhoven University of Technology), Kate Hennessy (School of Interactive Arts and Technology), Hannah Turner (University of British Columbia, Vancouver)

April 17
The Golem: How He Came Into the World
A Lee B. Anderson Memorial Foundation film screening and talk by Maya Barzilai (University of Michigan)

May 1
Sonia Delaunay: Sparking Joy
A talk by Laird Borrelli-Persson (Vogue)