Founded in 1990, the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College (CCS Bard) is an exhibition and research center dedicated to the study of art and exhibition practices from the 1960s to the present. The Center initiated its graduate program in 1994 and is one of the oldest institutions in curatorial pedagogy, offering a two-year graduate-degree program in curating. Hundreds of curators, writers, critics, artists, and scholars taught seminars and lectured in practicums. The Center alumni/ae include more than 200 individuals working in contemporary art field in the U.S. and internationally.

History

The CCS graduate program is one of eight graduate programs at

Bard College Bard College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains within the Hudson River Historic District ...

Annandale-on-Hudson, New York Annandale-on-Hudson is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet in Dutchess County, New York, United States, located in the Hudson Valley town of Red Hook, New York, Red Hook, across the Hudson River from Kingston, New York, Kingston. The hamlet consists main ...

. Since its inception in 1994, the graduate program has awarded M.A. degrees to more than 300 students. The Center's original facility, designed by architect Jim Goettsch and design consultant Nada Andric, was completed in December 1991. Expanded in 2006, the Center now features the Hessel Museum of Art, a exhibition space dedicated to the Marieluise Hessel Collection of over 1,700 works of contemporary art. The building also includes a library, classrooms, and a student lounge where CCS graduate students can meet informally about exhibitions and class projects.

Library and Archives

Serving as the director of the Library and Archives, Ann Butler has been instrumental in building the Library & Archives at the CCS Bard. The Library consists of over 30,000 volumes focusing on post-1960s contemporary art and curatorial practices. The collection contains international exhibition catalogues, artists' monographs, and international art journals and periodicals. The Special Collections feature historic artist-produced periodicals, a collection of limited edition, signed, and out of print exhibition catalogues, a media collection, and a collection of artists' books. The Archives comprise the institutional archives of CCS Bard and the Hessel Museum of Art, the archives of select galleries, artist-run spaces, the personal papers of select curators and artists, as well as a collection of artist files for artists represented in the Hessel Museum Collection.

Directors

The current executive director Tom Eccles joined CCS Bard in 2005, built the Hessel Museum of Art, and organized the inaugural exhibition of the Marieluise Hessel Collection, entitled ''Wrestle'' (2006). In an interview with Althea Viafora-Kress, Eccles states, "We have two central issues that we deal with: one is that we're at Bard. We're not in the center of the city, so people have to have a reason to come here. And the second is that we're a school. So we try things that might not be able to be done in other places."

Vasif Kortun Vasif Kortun (born November 6, 1958) is a curator, writer and educator in the field of contemporary art, its institutions, and exhibition practices. Kortun served as the founding director of several international institutions, including SALT (instit ...

was the first director of the Museum of the Center for Curatorial Studies (1994–97). Directors of the Graduate Program have included Associate Professor of Philosophy and Art History Norton Batkin (1991–2008), curators Maria Lind (2008–2010), Johanna Burton (2010–2012), Paul O'Neill (2013–2017), and

Lauren Cornell Lauren Cornell is an American curator and writer based in New York. Cornell is the Chief Curator of the Hessel Museum of Art and the Director of the Graduate Program at the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College. Previously, she was a cura ...

(2017–ongoing). Cornell is the first person to be both director of the graduate program and also the chief curator of the Hessel Museum of Art. Her position includes curriculum and faculty development, directing research initiatives, and overseeing artist- and curator-in-residence programs. In 2016, Cornell co-curated ''Invisible Adversaries'' with Tom Eccles in 2016. This exhibition was the 10th anniversary exhibition of the Hessel Collection.

Notable alumni

Some notable alumni of the Center are: * Cecilia Alemani *

Cecilia Brunson Cecilia is a personal name originating in the name of Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of music. History The name has been popularly used in Europe (particularly the United Kingdom and Italy, where in 2018 it was the 43rd most popular name for g ...

* Dan Byers * Pip Day *

Anne Ellegood Anne Ellegood (born 1966 or 1967) is an American curator and museum director who is the executive director of the Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Ellegood joined the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles as a curator in 2009, and embarked on ...

Candice Hopkins Candice Hopkins (born 1977) is a Carcross/Tagish First Nation independent curator, writer, and researcher who predominantly explores areas of art by Indigenous peoples. She is the executive director and chief curator at the Forge Project in New Yo ...

C. Davida Ingram C. Davida Ingram is a conceptual artist specializing in gender, race and social practice. Her art explores desire, space, time and memory, while questioning 21st century black female subjectivity. She is also a public speaker and civic leader. She ...

Ruba Katrib Ruba Katrib is an American curator of contemporary art. She has served as Curator and Director of Curatorial Affairs at MoMA PS1 since 2017.Russeth, Andrew. �MoMA PS1 Names Ruba Katrib Curato”, ArtNews, 2017. Accessed 11-21-2022. From 2012 until ...

* Inés Katzenstein *

Chus Martínez Chus Martínez (born 1972) is a Spanish curator, art historian, and writer. She is currently the director of the Art Institute at the FHNW Academy of Art and Design, Basel, where she also runs the Institute’s exhibition space Der Tank. Additiona ...

* Laura Mott * Gabi Ngcobo * Victoria Noorthoorn * Carina Plath *

Tomáš Pospiszyl Tomáš () is a Czech and Slovak given name, equivalent to the name Thomas. Tomáš is also a surname (feminine: Tomášová). Notable people with the name include: Given name Sport *Tomáš Berdych (born 1985), Czech tennis player * Tomáš Chor� ...

Ben Portis Ben Portis (December 9, 1960 – July 20, 2017) was a Canadian artist, curator, and critic working in the fields of contemporary art including sound art, performance, music, and architecture. Biography Portis had an MFA from the University of ...

Laurel Ptak Laurel Ptak is an artist, curator, writer and educator based in New York City specialized in contemporary art. Career Ptak is Curator-at-Large aLighthouse Works an esteemed artist residency and exhibition space in New York, located on Fishers Is ...

* Yasmil Raymond

References

External links

CCS Bard
- Center for Curatorial Studies {{authority control Bard College Art museums and galleries established in 1991 Research institutes established in 1990 Museums in Dutchess County, New York Art museums and galleries in New York (state) Contemporary art galleries in the United States University art museums and galleries in New York (state) University museums in New York (state) Annandale-on-Hudson, New York 1990 establishments in New York (state)