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).

Bard Graduate Center’s spring exhibitions, Shaped by the Loom: Weaving Worlds in the American Southwest, curated by Hadley Jensen (MA ’13, PhD ’18), and Staging the Table in Europe 1500–1800, curated by associate professor Deborah L. Krohn, have each received significant press attention.

Judith Glass wrote in HALI, a lavish international publication that covers the textile arts, called Shaped by the Loom “a sumptuous visual feast.” She continued, “Jensen, together with a group of Bard Graduate Center students, has created an accomplished and exciting show supported by an excellent and exhaustive digital exhibition, [whose] essence is the connection between thinking, making and knowing.”

Meanwhile Camille Okhio wrote in Elle Décor that Staging the Table dissects and celebrates banqueting and dining culture and puts “the artistry of the table on full display” in BGC’s historic townhouse setting. Okhio concluded, “Another show like this has not opened in New York for many years. It’s impossibly special.”

To read more coverage of the exhibitions, click the links below:

Shaped by the Loom
T Magazine
Forbes
This Week in Art
HALI
Antiques and the Arts Weekly
Selvedge
Shuttle, Spindle, and Dyepot

Staging the Table
The New York Times
Elle Décor
Fine Books and Collectibles
Yahoo! News