CCS Bard CCS Bard is an exhibition and research center dedicated to the study of art and exhibition practices from the 1960s to the present day.

The Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College (CCS Bard) is an exhibition, education, and research center dedicated to the study of art and curatorial practices from the 1960s to the present day. In addition to the CCS Bard Galleries and Hessel Museum of Art, the Center houses the Marieluise Hessel Collection, as well as an extensive library and curatorial archives that are accessible to the p

ublic. The Center’s two-year M.A. program in curatorial studies is specifically designed to deepen students’ understanding of the intellectual and practical tasks of curating contemporary art. Exhibitions are presented year-round in the CCS Bard Galleries and Hessel Museum of Art, providing students with the opportunity to work with world-renowned artists and curators. The exhibition program and the Hessel Collection also serve as the basis for a wide range of public programs and activities exploring art and its role in contemporary society. The Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College opened its doors in 1992. Celebrating its 20th Anniversary in 2012, CCS Bard presents a series of exhibitions by students, as well as a roster of international artists, working in a range of practices.

Sharing some faculty highlights from Dawn Chan, Senior Lecturer at CCS Bard!A New York–based writer, Dawn Chan frequentl...
08/01/2026

Sharing some faculty highlights from Dawn Chan, Senior Lecturer at CCS Bard!

A New York–based writer, Dawn Chan frequently contributes to the Arts Desk of the The New York Times. Her criticism and analysis also appears in ArtReview, the Atlantic, Bookforum, The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, the Paris Review, Spike, and The Village Voice. A former visiting scholar at NYU’s Center for Experimental Humanities, Dawn has been a speaker at the Guggenheim Museum, Metrograph, Triple Canopy, NYU, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and Sharjah Biennial’s April Acts, among other venues. In 2019–2020, as part of a CCS Bard team led by Lauren Cornell, Dawn was a co-curator of “Phantom Plane, Cyberpunk in the Year of the Future” at Tai Kwun Museum. She also curated “Ghost Bites,” photographer Tommy Kha’s solo show at Baxter St. at CCNY in 2023.

Dawn’s essays have been anthologized in “Intersubjectivity IV” (Sternberg Press, 2026), “Alternative Futures: Art as a Toolkit for Survival” (University of Chicago Press / Intellect Books, 2026), “Spectral Futures” (Bloomsbury, 2025), and “Science Fiction” (Whitechapel/MIT Press, 2020), as well as in publications put forth by the Taipei Biennial, the Sharjah Biennial, the Okayama Art Summit, and Hyundai Artlab. She is the recipient of a Warhol Arts Writers Grant, a Thoma Foundation Arts Writing Award in Digital Art, and a Fulbright Fellowship. Her recent research focuses on Asian futurisms, East and Southeast Asian diasporic art practices, digital worldbuilding, transpacific studies, and climate justice.

Images:
1. Dawn Chan, headshot.
2. Essay in “Intersubjectivity IV,” Sternberg Press.
3. Essay in “Alternative Futures” Art as a Toolkit for Survival” University of Chicago Press.
4. Review of “Pauline-Rose Dumas: A Rose is a Rose,” The New York Times.
5. “A Greenlandic Photographer’s Tender Portraits of Daily Life,” The New Yorker.
6. “Inflatable Life,” The New York Review of Books.
7. Review of “Emily Kraus: In Relation,” The New York Times.
8. Essay in “Spectral Futures: Fabulations of Worlds to Come,” Bloomsbury Publishing.

Installation views of “Replica of a Chip: The Weaving Technology of Marilou Schultz,” on view through November 29.Museum...
07/30/2026

Installation views of “Replica of a Chip: The Weaving Technology of Marilou Schultz,” on view through November 29.

Museum Hours: Wednesday-Sunday, 11am-5pm.

“Replica of a Chip: The Weaving Technology of Marilou Schultz” marks the first survey of acclaimed Navajo/Diné weaver and mathematics educator Marilou Schultz. On view through November 29, 2026, the exhibition positions Schultz as an innovator whose work across culture and industry has influenced the practices of art, Navajo weaving, and computer architecture over a 65-year career. Replica of a Chip traces the full arc of Schultz’s artistic practice, demonstrating how she has consistently pushed the boundaries of experimentation within Navajo weaving, first through teaching herself new weaving styles, dyes, and techniques and later, using it as a means to reflect on the digital technologies shaping contemporary culture and society—from early computer microprocessors to stock market tickers and other digital data.

Schultz began weaving at age seven, observing her mother and grandmother at the loom as part of a family tradition spanning four generations. She trained in traditional techniques grounded in symmetry and cultural symbolism, key characteristics of Navajo weaving. By the 1980s, she was experimenting with new techniques, designs, and dyes while pursuing a career as a math teacher, the stability of which allowed her to focus on weaving as an art rather than solely a means of financial support.

For more information about the exhibition, please visit the link in our bio.

Images: Alon Koppel

Installation views of “Uman: In Between,” on view through November 29.Museum Hours: Wednesday-Sunday, 11am-5pm.“In Betwe...
07/29/2026

Installation views of “Uman: In Between,” on view through November 29.

Museum Hours: Wednesday-Sunday, 11am-5pm.

“In Between” provides a glimpse into two decades of art by Uman (b. 1980, Somalia), highlighting key moments and innovations in the trajectory of this prolific and pathbreaking artist. Uman’s distinct visual vocabulary first emerges in early paintings, collages, and drawings, then expands into large-scale and densely layered compositions. Always, her process is one of constant working and reworking to enliven a primary set of signs, symbols, colors and textures.

Uman’s art has often been framed through biography: her winding path as an immigrant, and her evolution as a self-taught artist. This exhibition shifts the focus toward the techniques and themes of her work, examining her exploration of the natural world, the variability of selfhood, and the capacities of color. In her art, color is both material and memory. Her vibrant palette, which seems to invite each color to be its fullest self, expresses sensation, dreams, landscapes, and history, and her surfaces are tactile. Among many inventive approaches, she has eschewed paintbrushes in favor of using her fingers, directly touching paint to the surface, and stitched together her own canvases from found fabrics. For Uman, any material—whether scavenged junk or gallery walls—is a candidate for covering with radiant, expressive mark-making.

“In Between” highlights the artist’s rigorous experimentation, her commitment to challenging scale and convention, positioning her as one of the most vital and original painters at work today.

Images: Alon Koppel

“Well, being a dealer was something that was thrust upon me. Being an artist was something I always wanted to do. And it...
07/22/2026

“Well, being a dealer was something that was thrust upon me. Being an artist was something I always wanted to do. And it’s always been a compulsion with me. So that I balanced it somehow, it was difficult, but it was worth it.”

Best known for ushering in the American avant-garde by establishing the careers of Barnett Newman, Mark Rothko, and Jackson Po***ck, among others, Parsons also loyally supported a large group of less well recognized and deeply experimental artists. Meanwhile, she maintained a dedicated artistic practice throughout her life. “Betty Parsons: An Expanded World,” organized by Kelly Taxter (CCS Bard ‘03) with artist Amy Sillman (Bard M.F.A. ‘95), centers Parson’s output as a painter and sculptor, while exploring the radical history of the Betty Parsons Gallery.

A revelatory and newly commissioned multi-channel film by Kaija Siirala and G. Anthony Svatek brings to life the largely unknown history of the Betty Parsons Gallery. See the film inside the galleries, Wednesday - Sunday, 11am-5pm.

Image 1: Kaija Siirala and G. Anthony Svatek, “An Expanded World, Part 2.” Excerpt.
Images 2 - 9: Installation images from “Betty Parsons: An Expanded World,” June 27 – October 18, 2025. Hessel Museum of Art, Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY. Photo: Carter Seddon, 2026.

Sharing some highlights from this summer’s student trip!Following the first year of study, CCS Bard students travel with...
07/16/2026

Sharing some highlights from this summer’s student trip!

Following the first year of study, CCS Bard students travel with faculty to an art event or artistic center and meet with a variety of curators, artists, and other cultural producers. This year brought the students to Venice.

Thanks to the generous support of the Chemla Family Travel Fund, the student trip is funded and organized by CCS Bard.

Mark your calendars for our summer exhibitions! Opening reception Saturday, June 27, 2026 from 2-5pm“Betty Parsons: An E...
05/27/2026

Mark your calendars for our summer exhibitions! Opening reception Saturday, June 27, 2026 from 2-5pm

“Betty Parsons: An Expanded World,” curated by Kelly Taxter (CCS ‘03) with artist Amy Sillman.

“Uman: In Between,” curated by Lauren Cornell.

“Replica of a Chip: The Weaving Technology of Marilou Schultz,” curated by Candice Hopkins (citizen of Carcross/Tagish First Nation, CCS Bard ‘03)

⁠Link in our bio for more details on each exhibition.⁠
⁠⁠⁠
Limited free seating is available on a roundtrip chartered bus from New York City for the June 27 opening. Reservations are required and can be made on this by calling +1 845-758-7598 or emailing Mary Rozell at [email protected].

Images:
1) Aerial view of CCS Bard.

2) Betty Parsons, “Opposition,” 1962. Courtesy Alexander Gray Associates, New York. © 2025 Betty Parsons and William P. Rayner Foundation

3) Uman, “Samaki in the ocean,” 2023. ©Uman. Courtesy of the artist, Nicola Vassell Gallery and Hauser & Wirth. Photo: Sarah Muehlbauer.

4) Marilou Schultz “Water, Tó,” 2022. Gochman Family Collection Photo credit: Thatcher Keats

“Useful Contaminants” curated by Grace Harmer, on view April 4 - May 24 as part of the 2026 Graduate Student Curated Exh...
05/02/2026

“Useful Contaminants” curated by Grace Harmer, on view April 4 - May 24 as part of the 2026 Graduate Student Curated Exhibitions.

Artists: Erik DeLuca, Robbie Wing

Museum Hours: Wed - Sun, 11am - 5pm⁠

To learn more about the exhibitions on view, please visit the link in our bio.

Images: Installation views from “Useful Contaminants” Hessel Museum of Art, Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, April 4–May 24, 2026. Master’s thesis exhibition curated by Grace Harmer. Photos: Alon Koppel, 2026.

Join us Friday, May 8, for the CCS Bard Method Camp!11am - 4pm, Collection Teaching GalleryFor the full symposium schedu...
05/01/2026

Join us Friday, May 8, for the CCS Bard Method Camp!
11am - 4pm, Collection Teaching Gallery

For the full symposium schedule, please visit the link in our bio.

Participants: Lara Fresko Madra, Harris Feinsod, Jonathan González, Shannon Mattern, Dawn Chan, Suzanne Kite, Eugenie Tsai, and Jordan Weber. Organized by Mariano López Seoane.

CCS Bard Method Camp: Research inaugurates a new annual symposium at the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College dedicated to examining the foundational practices that shape curatorial work and its adjacent fields. Conceived as a space for reflection on method rather than outcome, this first edition focuses on research—not as a neutral or preliminary stage, but as a situated, generative, and often unruly practice that underpins artistic, curatorial, and scholarly production.

Across disciplines, research names a wide spectrum of activities: observation, collection, speculation, verification, immersion, and translation. It may unfold systematically or intuitively, collaboratively or in isolation; it may take the form of archival excavation, fieldwork, embodied inquiry, or conceptual construction. Rather than stabilizing these differences, Method Camp approaches research as a set of evolving practices shaped by context, urgency, and desire. What does it mean to begin with a question? How does a line of inquiry take form, and for whom? At what point does research become legible—or deliberately resist legibility?

This one-day symposium, organized by Mariano López Seoane, consists of two 90-minute panels bringing together artists, curators, and scholars. The program foregrounds case-based reflections on process, offering insight into the intellectual, material, and affective dimensions of research across fields.

Image: Anne Collier, “Despair,” 2005. Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. Gift of Rebecca and Martin Eisenberg. Courtesy of the artist; Anton Kern Gallery, New York; Galerie Neu, Berlin; Gladstone Gallery, Brussels; and The Modern Institute/ Toby Webster Ltd., Glasgow.

Join us Friday, May 1, for the inaugural CCS Bard Method Camp!11am - 4pm, Collection Teaching GalleryFor the full sympos...
05/01/2026

Join us Friday, May 1, for the inaugural CCS Bard Method Camp!
11am - 4pm, Collection Teaching Gallery

For the full symposium schedule, please visit the link in our bio.

Participants: Lara Fresko Madra, Harris Feinsod, Jonathan González, Shannon Mattern, Dawn Chan, Suzanne Kite, Eugenie Tsai, and Jordan Weber. Organized by Mariano López Seoane.

“CCS Bard Method Camp: Research” inaugurates a new annual symposium at the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College dedicated to examining the foundational practices that shape curatorial work and its adjacent fields. Conceived as a space for reflection on method rather than outcome, this first edition focuses on research—not as a neutral or preliminary stage, but as a situated, generative, and often unruly practice that underpins artistic, curatorial, and scholarly production.

Across disciplines, research names a wide spectrum of activities: observation, collection, speculation, verification, immersion, and translation. It may unfold systematically or intuitively, collaboratively or in isolation; it may take the form of archival excavation, fieldwork, embodied inquiry, or conceptual construction. Rather than stabilizing these differences, Method Camp approaches research as a set of evolving practices shaped by context, urgency, and desire. What does it mean to begin with a question? How does a line of inquiry take form, and for whom? At what point does research become legible—or deliberately resist legibility?

This one-day symposium, organized by Mariano López Seoane, consists of two 90-minute panels bringing together artists, curators, and scholars. The program foregrounds case-based reflections on process, offering insight into the intellectual, material, and affective dimensions of research across fields.

Image: Anne Collier, “Despair,” 2005. Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. Gift of Rebecca and Martin Eisenberg. Courtesy of the artist; Anton Kern Gallery, New York; Galerie Neu, Berlin; Gladstone Gallery, Brussels; and The Modern Institute/ Toby Webster Ltd., Glasgow.

“False Sponsor” curated by Ray Camp, on view April 4 - May 24 as part of the 2026 Graduate Student Curated Exhibitions.A...
05/01/2026

“False Sponsor” curated by Ray Camp, on view April 4 - May 24 as part of the 2026 Graduate Student Curated Exhibitions.

Artists: Abigail Raphael Collins, Sophie Kovel, Julia Weist

Museum Hours: Wed - Sun, 11am - 5pm⁠

To learn more about the exhibitions on view, please visit the link in our bio.

Images: Installation views from “False Sponsor” Hessel Museum of Art, Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, April 4–May 24, 2026. Master’s thesis exhibition curated by Ray Camp. Photos: Alon Koppel, 2026.

Address

33 Garden Road
Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
12504

Opening Hours

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

Telephone

+18457587598

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