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).

Alexis Mucha came to the Bard Graduate Center as a MA student in 2004 from the University of Delaware where she graduated with a B.A. in Art History and History and has been at BGC ever since. Her interests are twentieth-century graphic design, fashion, and popular culture with a thesis focused on the store windows at Barneys department store, 1986-2000. Alexis is active in the American Friends of Attingham, attending the Attingham Summer School to study the English country house in 2014, as well as in the Victorian Society where she participated in the London Summer School in 2016 and the Newport Summer School in 2018. She is the treasurer of the Metropolitan Chapter of the Victorian Society in New York. Alexis is also a certified WFTDA roller derby official with the Gotham Roller Derby league. In her spare time, she enjoys baking.