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).


Rebecca Jumper Matheson, Bard Graduate Center PhD candidate, will discuss “The Duster Coat: An Icon of American Women’s Fashion” with BGC assistant professor Michele Majer on February 19 at 1 pm EST for the Decorative Arts Trust’s February virtual dialogue. Registration begins February 15.

In December 2020, Winterthur published Erica Wilson: A Life in Stitches co-authored by BGC PhD candidate Anne Hilker and Winterthur’s senior curator of textiles emerita, Linda Eaton. The publication coincides with a pandemic pivot to an online exhibition about Wilson. (Regretfully, the book’s print edition is currently unavailable due to a temporary halt on the publisher’s retail operations.) Hilker contributed two interviews about Wilson for Catherine Whalen’s oral history project: one about Wilson and her widower, Vladimir Kagan, the other with Wilson’s shop and seminar manager, Edith Bouriez.

First-year BGC MA student, Mackensie Griffin, will be published in the forthcoming spring issue of Gastronomica-The Journal for Food Studies with a piece titled “A Seat at the Table: The Western Dining Table as a Symbol of Power.”

BGC PhD candidate Sarah Scaturro recently co-authored an article in VoCA Journal about disability in art conservation.