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).

Jen Larson (MA 2005) has relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, where she is the Grand Ole Opry’s first full-time archivist.

Adam Brandow (MA 2010) and his wife, Megan Brandow-Faller, welcomed the arrival of their son, Otto Felix Leopold, on September 6.

Alex Irving (MA 2011) is the new gifts of art officer at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Sarah Brown McLeod (MA 2012) has been named U.S. director of press and communications at Paddle 8, where she is overseeing public relations and communications for the company, including all auctions, special initiatives, and corporate communications.

Corinne Brandt (MA 2014) has received a fellowship from the Trustees of Reservations—a land preservation organization in Massachusetts. Corinne is working at Mission House in Stockbridge, which showcases an outstanding collection of eighteenth-century American material culture collected in the 1920s. She is also working at another property, Field Farm, near Williams College, which is an important example of post-World War II architecture with a few terrific mid-century furniture pieces. Corinne explains, “My area of interest is Colonial American material culture, so this is a real departure for me, but I have never been happier for the BGC Survey course, which gave me an excellent base knowledge of styles and designers. If anyone ever complains about Survey let them know that you never know where your career will take you and what you may need to know down the line! “

Shannon Price (MPhil 2014) has been named director of external partnerships and cultural affairs at Parsons School of Design, The New School.

Ariel Rosenblum (MA 2015) was the conservator/textile preparator for the exhibition Woven Power: Ritual Textiles of Sarawak and West Kalimantan on view until mid-December at the Cantor Art Gallery, Holy Cross College, Worchester, Massachusetts.