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).

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Ittai Weinryb (right) examines monumental bronze Vishnu sculpture fragments at the National Museum of Cambodia in Phnom Penh, January 2018. Photo: Francesca G. Bewer

Elissa Auther published “Abstraction and Decoration” as part of the Tate Modern’s new object-based, online scholarship initiative that draws on the museum’s research and collection resources. In addition, she presented a paper, “Miriam Schapiro and the Decorative: Unapologetic Feminine Excess,” at the College Art Association Conference in Los Angeles, and delivered the Stoddard Lecture at the University of California, Berkeley, titled “Textile Narratives: Ancient Andean Hand Weaving and the Rise of Modern Fiber Art.”

Abigail Krasner Balbale presented a paper, titled “The Material Culture of Affiliation across Religious Lines in Medieval Iberia,” at Harvard University as part of the conference Recycling, Revision, and Relocation in the Middle Ages held on February 9.

François Louis, who is on sabbatical this semester, presented a talk related to his current book project at Yale University, “Liao-Dynasty Elites in Light of their Archaeological Remains” on February 19.

Michele Majer has an exhibition review, titled “La Mode retrouvée: les robes trésors de la comtesse Greffulhe; Proust’s Muse: The Comtesse Greffulhe,” in a forthcoming special issue of Fashion Theory (Collectors, Practices of Collecting and Collections).

Ittai Weinryb recently visited Cambodia where he participated in an international workshop on bronze casting. Among the topics was the reconstruction of an Angkorian bronze masterpiece—the monumental sculpture of Vishnu from the West Mebon temple in Angkor, dating from the second half of the eleventh century, now preserved in the National Museum of Cambodia in Phnom Penh.