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).

Sequoia Barnes is a textile artist and sculptor who specializes in ceramics, pottery, quilting, soft sculpture, stitching, embroidery, installation, and assemblage. Her work often mixes these different genres via the influence of Black Southern Assemblage. Her work also utilizes Black radical art practices in the form of reappropriation, via African American folklore and Afro-Surrealism, in order to deconstruct racist tropes and white supremacist representations of blackness.

Barnes’ practice is predominately informed by her theory-led exploration of Black radical art practice which is the creative practice of subverting white supremacy through the (semiotic) deconstruction of Black diasporic representation and symbolisms. However, her work is also heavily informed by post-structuralist semiotics, specifically but not limited to Derridan semiotic theory and the deconstruction of the “other.” Her work is centered around foregrounding the processes and rituals of creating “art” as equally important as the resulting object itself. Her process typically starts with a theoretical statement or exploration. She then uses her practice to articulate and disseminate her theoretical understandings regardless of the skill set(s) she is using.