Publications
Shop Our Store!
Exhibition catalogues, books, journals, accessories, and more!
Bard Graduate Center is an advanced graduate research institute in New York City dedicated to the cultural histories of the material world. Our MA and PhD degree programs, Gallery exhibitions, research initiatives, scholarly publications and public programs explore new ways of thinking about decorative arts, design history, and material culture.

MA/PhD
Apply Now!
Applications for our MA program may be submitted until March 1, 2025





About

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).



Congratulations to Bard Graduate Center professor Ittai Weinryb, and all involved in the conception and production of the Agents of Faith Exhibition Catalogue, which was awarded the 2019 Art + Christianity Book Award. This award commends a book that makes an outstanding contribution to the dialogue between visual arts and religious faith.

Sir Charles Saumarez Smith, chair of the Book Award judging panel said of the winning book: “This is a book which is slightly different in kind and character from the other books, because it is multi-author, written by a wide range of international scholars who collaborated over a long period of time in writing about votive objects. As we talked about the book, it became clear that we all admired it hugely for its originality, its wide compass, the fact that it was an exhibition catalogue which makes a major scholarly contribution to its subject.”

Named one of The Best Art Books of 2018 by the New York Times, this powerful catalogue explores votive offerings in the context of material culture, art history, and religious studies to better understand their history and present-day importance.