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).

BARD GRADUATE CENTER RECEIVES NEA ART WORKS GRANT TO SUPPORT SPRING 2016 EXHIBITION

New York, New York, December 15, 2015 —On December 8, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) announced grants totaling more than $27.6 million in its first funding round of fiscal year 2016, including an Art Works award of $30,000 to Bard Graduate Center to support the spring 2016 exhibition Artek and the Aaltos: Creating a Modern World.

NEA Chairman Jane Chu said, “The arts are part of our everyday lives— no matter who you are or where you live— they have the power to transform individuals, spark economic vibrancy in communities, and transcend the boundaries across diverse sectors of society. Supporting projects such as Bard Graduate Center’s offers more opportunities to engage in the arts every day.”

“I am delighted that the National Endowment for the Arts has recognized the outstanding quality and importance of this long overdue and important new perspective on Alvar Aalto and Aino Marsio-Aalto,” said Bard Graduate Center Director and Founder Dr. Susan Weber. “It reinforces our commitment to presenting ambitious exhibitions that offer new research presented at the highest level of scholarship.”

Artek and the Aaltos: Creating a Modern World will open in Bard Graduate Center Gallery, New York City, on April 22 and run through September 25, 2016. It will be the first exhibition in the United States to examine the pioneering Finnish design company Artek, still an active enterprise since its inception in 1935, and their principal architects, Alvar Aalto (1898–1976) and Aino Marsio-Aalto (1894–1949), together. Approximately 150 works will be featured—many never before exhibited—including architectural drawings, sketches for interiors and furniture, paintings, photography, furniture, glassware, lighting, and textiles from both public repositories and private collections. Artek and the Aaltos: Creating a Modern World is curated by Bard Graduate Center Gallery Director Nina Stritzler-Levine, a recognized scholar of modern and contemporary design, and Juhani Pallasmaa, a practicing architect and leading authority on modern and contemporary architecture.

About Bard Graduate Center

Founded in 1993, Bard Graduate Center is a graduate research institute in New York City. Its Gallery exhibitions and publications, MA and PhD programs, and research initiatives explore new ways of thinking about decorative arts, design history, and material culture. A member of the Association of Research Institutes in Art History (ARIAH), the Center is an academic unit of Bard College. For more information, visit www.bgc.bard.edu.