About
Upcoming Exhibitions
BGC Gallery will resume its exhibition programming this September with the return of Sèvres Extraordinaire! Sculpture from 1740 until Today, originally slated for fall 2024.
Bard Graduate Center is an advanced graduate research institute in New York City dedicated to the cultural histories of the material world. Our MA and PhD degree programs, Gallery exhibitions, research initiatives, scholarly publications and public programs explore new ways of thinking about decorative arts, design history, and material culture.

About
28th Annual Iris Foundation Awards
Honoring Irene Roosevelt Aitken, Dr. Julius Bryant, Dr. Meredith Martin, and Katherine Purcell
Events
Wednesdays @ BGC
Join us this spring for weekly programming!





About

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).


White cross-lined ware beaker with hippos, Predynastic, Naqada II, ca. 3650–3500 B.C. at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

A major draw for attending the Bard Graduate Center is that the school’s location allows for easy access to museums and collections around the city. In professor Annissa Malvoisin’s fall 2024 class, Global Materials Along the Nile: 3400 BCE–500 CE, we took full advantage of New York’s resources with frequent museum visits and collection tours.

At the Brooklyn Museum, we visited the conservation department and viewed ancient Egyptian objects from their collection, meeting with Morgan Moroney, assistant curator of ancient Egyptian art, and Kathy Zurek-Doule, curatorial associate for Egyptian, classical, and ancient Near Eastern Art. At the Metropolitan Museum of Art, we walked through the Egyptian galleries and took tours with Dr. Andrea Myers Achi, Mary and Michael Jaharis Associate Curator of Byzantine Art, and Dr. Janice Kamrin, curator of Egyptian art. On our last day of class, we visited the Met’s exhibition Flight into Egypt: Black Artists and Ancient Egypt, 1876–Now.


Not only did we conduct hands-on learning with site visits but we especially focused on studying materials. When looking at slides Dr. Malvoisin would ask us what we thought different objects were made of, and I developed a visual vocabulary for ancient materials and making techniques, a lot of which are ubiquitous outside of this context. For example, before this class I had no idea what faience was or how it was produced. But after being in the Brooklyn Museum’s storage, crowded around tiny objects on a table, I now have both a knowledge of the production of faience and a physical memory of encountering it in an ancient form.

Brenna Gomez and Asha Bell (MA ’26) in their Halloween costumes at the Met.

Dr. Malvoisin’s class was also tailored to our interests. As the semester went on, we could tell what might appeal to each other. Walking through the Met, I would tap Brenna Gomez (MA ’26) when we passed ancient jewelry. Asha Bell (MA ’26) brought a valuable maker’s perspective and attention to detail. We were encouraged to question objects themselves but also to research gaps within the field of Egyptology, particularly the way Nubia has been historically represented and discussed.


When I was considering graduate programs, the global approach of BGC appealed to me. Taking classes outside of my speciality, like this one, pushes me out of my academic comfort zone. This has created new connections in my research and broadened my understanding of material culture—and it was fun! My camera roll grew in this class, and hopefully I will now walk through the ancient Egyptian galleries at the Met more knowledgeably.


View during class at the Brooklyn Museum in the early fall.


Sarah Egan is a first-year student in the MA program