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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After a summer of intensive planning, BGC welcomed new students, virtually and in person, to its MA and PhD programs. The Director’s Welcome, usually a single indoor event at which BGC Founder and Director Susan Weber meets new students, took place over three beautiful evenings on the terrace at 38 West 86th Street, providing smaller groups of students the opportunity to meet Weber in a more intimate, but socially distanced and masked, environment.

New students also participated in library orientation, digital scholarship, and language training and testing via Zoom. Classes began September 8, with some students attending classes in-person on 86th Street and others electing to participate online. Thankfully BGC’s small class sizes provide the flexibility to create a hybrid model of teaching and learning to best serve our students.