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).

Angela Hermano Crenshaw is an art historian, curator, and educator specializing in dress and textiles. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Decorative Arts, Design History, and Material Culture at the Bard Graduate Center in New York City, where she earned her MA in 2024. Her work focuses on American receptions of the Philippines in the US colonial period via material objects, particularly textiles. She has shared her work at conferences at Yale University, Boston University, and the New England Museums Association, and regularly lectures on Philippine textiles and dress history. Angela received her undergraduate degree in Art History from the University of St Andrews in Scotland and has held positions at Providence College Galleries and the RISD Museum, where she also curated the exhibition “From Pineapple to Pañuelo: Philippine Textiles.”