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).

Faculty took part in the 2017 CAA Conference held in New York City, February 15-18. In the photograph above is Ittai Weinryb [left], who chaired “The Future of the Research Institute,” and the panel, which, along with Peter N. Miller, included directors from other prominent research institutes: Elizabeth Cropper, National Gallery of Art Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts; Ulrich Pfisterer, Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte in Munich; Gerhard Wolf, Kunsthistoriches Institut in Florenz; Bill Sherman, V&A Research Institute; Olivier Meslay, The Clark Art Institute; Thomas Gaehtgens, The Getty Research Institute; and Tanja Michalsky, Bibliotheca Hertziana–Max-Planck-Institut für Kunstgeschichte.In addition, Paul Stirton chaired “Revivalism in Twentieth-Century Design in Germany, Scandinavia, and Central Europe”; Peter N. Miller participated in the session “The American Dream of The Mediterranean: Lessons From History”; Deborah L. Krohn co-chaired “The Renaissance Filtered”; and Elissa Auther co-chaired “Puppets and Performing Objects.”Staff and students also contributed to the conference. Marianne Lamonaca, chief curator and associate director of the Gallery, chaired “Curators: Agents of Change from ‘Inside and Outside’ the Box (of the Museum).” PhD students Meredith P. Nelson participated in the “Critical Craft Forum: Gender And Jewelry” and Michelle Jackson presented on “Gesamtkunstwerk and Gemeinschaft: Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Urban Planning in the Case of Lafayette Park, Detroit.”