Bard Graduate Center

Bard Graduate Center Bard Graduate Center: Decorative Arts, Design History, Material Culture. Bard Graduate Center is a graduate research institute in New York City.

Our MA and PhD degree programs, Gallery exhibitions, research initiatives, and public programs explore new ways of thinking about decorative arts, design history, and material culture. At Bard Graduate Center, we study the human past through its material traces. We study objects—from those created for obvious aesthetic value to the ordinary things that are part of everyday life. Learning is what B

ard Graduate Center is all about. Our accomplished faculty inspire students to strive for excellence, knowing that this will prepare them for the intellectual and professional rigors of careers in academia, in museums, and in the private sector. This high standard is equally the hallmark of the Gallery’s acclaimed exhibitions and related public programs. The Center’s campus comprises a state-of-the-art academic programs building at 38 West 86th Street and Gallery at 18 West 86th Street. Founded by Dr. Susan Weber in 1993, Bard Graduate Center is an academic unit of Bard College through which it is accredited and a member of the Association of Research Institutes in Art History (ARIAH).

Congratulations to the MA '26 class! 🎓 Last week at the Qualifying Paper Symposium, 22 scholars presented original resea...
05/26/2026

Congratulations to the MA '26 class! 🎓 Last week at the Qualifying Paper Symposium, 22 scholars presented original research spanning ancient Greek funerary stelae, Baile Folklórico costumes, heritage quilts, Appalachian log cabins, luxury fashion craft, prosthetics for soldiers and screen, and the politics of Indigenous collaboration in museums — just to name a few. The depth, range, and rigor on display reminded us exactly why this work matters. We are so proud of every one of you!

Photography by Yann Chashanovski.

FINAL DAYS! Don't miss your last chance to experience Viollet-le-Duc Drawing Worlds at Bard Graduate Center Gallery. Onl...
05/21/2026

FINAL DAYS! Don't miss your last chance to experience Viollet-le-Duc Drawing Worlds at Bard Graduate Center Gallery. Only on view through May 24.

Tickets 🔗 in bio.

Organized by Bard Graduate Center in partnership withMédiathèque du patrimoine et de la photographie, a department of the French Ministry of Culture.

Photo by Da Ping Luo.

This spring, BGC students had the opportunity to design and print personalized bookplates during Materials Day workshops...
05/20/2026

This spring, BGC students had the opportunity to design and print personalized bookplates during Materials Day workshops on ex libris printmaking.

A new display in the library showcases the students’ unique bookplates alongside those from the library’s collections, woodblocks and a lithographic stone from the Study Collection, books related to ex libris and printing, as well as printmaking tools and materials with an explanation of different techniques.

The phrase “ex libris” (Latin for “from the books/library of”) commonly appears on bookplates – a printed or decorative label pasted into a book, usually on the front endpaper, to indicate ownership – and has therefore become a synonymous term. With historical roots in similar practices of signaling book ownership (e.g. portraits, heraldry, marginalia), an ex libris often features a personalized motif, such as a motto, crest, coat-of-arms, or other unique design.

Only 5 days left! Viollet-le-Duc Drawing Worlds is closing soon — don't miss your chance to experience the drawings that...
05/19/2026

Only 5 days left! Viollet-le-Duc Drawing Worlds is closing soon — don't miss your chance to experience the drawings that changed what architectural imagination and reconstruction could accomplish.

On view through May 24 only.

Organized by Bard Graduate Center in partnership with Médiathèque du patrimoine et de la photographie, a department of the French Ministry of Culture.

Installation photography by © Bruce M White.

05/15/2026

BGC alum Antonia Anagnostopoulos (MA '24) is hand-crafting a fustanella at the Royal Ontario Museum — and she's doing it the way it's always been done, by studying the real thing!

From : "The Veronika Gervers Research Fellowship was established in 1979 to honour the work and memory of Veronika Gervers, a pioneering textiles and dress scholar. While a curator at ROM – from 1968 until her untimely death in 1979 – Veronika carried out groundbreaking research in Eastern European dress history and assisted in building the worldclass textiles collection at the heart of so many ROM exhibitions.

The 2025-2026 fellowship recipient, Antonia Anagnostopoulos has been studying historic garments held in ROM collections in order to herself create a fustanella for her project entitled the Arcadian Lass.

A note from Antonia: in my excitement to film this video, I misspoke! The magnifying device that I use is called a linen tester or a thread counter. Also the Ottoman 8-pointed star would be more accurately described as an 8-pointed swirl."

Video courtesy of the Royal Ontario Museum.

Before it's gone — lose yourself in the visionary drawings of Viollet-le-Duc Drawing Worlds, on view through May 24.Bard...
05/14/2026

Before it's gone — lose yourself in the visionary drawings of Viollet-le-Duc Drawing Worlds, on view through May 24.

Bard Graduate Center Gallery
18 West 86th St., NYC

Organized by Bard Graduate Center in partnership with Médiathèque du patrimoine et de la photographie, a department of the French Ministry of Culture.

Image credit: Maurice Ouradou, Painted decor of Saint-Charles chapel. Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral, Saint-Joseph chapel, preparatory drawing for Peintures murales des chapelles de Notre-Dame de Paris (Paris: Morel, 1870), plates 4 and 5, ca. 1870. Drawing on tracing paper in ink and watercolor, with white gouache and gold highlights, mounted on card stock. Musée d’Orsay, Paris, AR0 2013 10 3.

We're still buzzing in the BGC Archives from the energy of this month’s Graduate Student Symposium! While the research p...
05/13/2026

We're still buzzing in the BGC Archives from the energy of this month’s Graduate Student Symposium! While the research presented was cutting-edge, the event also marked a milestone: the revival of the student symposium after a 15-year hiatus. The spark for its comeback actually started in the Archives, where (MA ‘26) came across the records of past symposia while working at her campus job. After a few late-night text conversations with fellow classmates, the idea for the 2026 Graduate Student Symposium was off and running. To celebrate its return, we’re looking back at where it began.

We reached out to Margaret Maile Petty (MA ‘02), who organized the first Student Symposium in 2002. Now a Pro Vice-Chancellor at Massey University in New Zealand, Professor Maile Petty reflected on the “bold” move of inviting renowned architectural historian Anthony Vidler to speak at the event, and her shock when he actually said yes! As she recalls (swipe to read), the event was not just about presenting research, but about student agency as “emerging academic leaders.”

Kudos again to the MA class of 2026 and 2027 for reviving this student-driven forum!

Young artists, this one's for you! 🎨Join us for a Free Kids Drawing Tour on Saturday, May 16 (11am–12pm) and step into t...
05/10/2026

Young artists, this one's for you! 🎨Join us for a Free Kids Drawing Tour on Saturday, May 16 (11am–12pm) and step into the world of Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc — the visionary architect who drew castles, cathedrals, mountains, and monuments in stunning detail.

Kids ages 8–12 will explore the galleries and try three hands-on drawing exercises inspired by his imaginative work.

Free for kids 12 & under | $10 for caregivers.
For more information & to register visit the link in bio!

Huge congratulations to BGC faculty member Mei Mei Rado, whose book The Empire's New Cloth: Cross-Cultural Textiles at t...
05/09/2026

Huge congratulations to BGC faculty member Mei Mei Rado, whose book The Empire's New Cloth: Cross-Cultural Textiles at the Qing Court has won the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies' Louis Gottschalk Prize! 🏆

Awarded annually to an outstanding historical or critical study on the eighteenth century, this prize recognizes Professor Rado's scholarship weaving together textiles, trade, and culture. ASECS called the book "the best of our field," praising its deep research into silk manufacture, tapestry weaving, and cross-cultural exchange across Asia and Europe. We are so proud!

05/08/2026

Last chance — Viollet-le-Duc Drawing Worlds closes May 24. Have you seen it yet? 🔗 Tickets in bio.

Address

38 W 86th Street
New York, NY
10024

Opening Hours

Tuesday 11am - 5pm
Wednesday 11am - 8pm
Thursday 11am - 8pm
Friday 11am - 5pm
Saturday 11am - 5pm
Sunday 11am - 5pm

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+12125013023

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