Studentactivites - CCS Bard

Student Activities

Graduate Student Thesis Exhibitions

Examples of past CCS Bard graduate student thesis exhibitions:

• Up River Studies (2022)
• Informator (2022)
• Beast, Chimera, Kin (2022)
• Uxmal-on-Hudson (2021)
• The Soil Speaks (2020)
• Somatic’s Grocery (2020)
• Missing Hue of the Rainbow (2019)
• Studies from the Bottom Up (2017)

At the culmination of study, each student prepares a master’s degree thesis project, including a curated component that is presented at the Hessel Museum of Art. This may be a group or solo exhibition, commission, screening series, performance, discursive platform, or other curatorial endeavor. Graduate theses at CCS Bard are ambitious undertakings produced on a Museum level with the support of a full exhibitions team and in consultation with faculty and the Director of the Graduate Program. To learn more, please visit the Curriculum page.

During the all-school critique of "Bettina: The Fifth Point of the Compass" curated by Marina Caron (Class of 2023), faculty and students ask questions and provide feedback regarding the thesis exhibition. Photo by: Amanda Bard

Students and faculty gather for the all-school critique of Friends of Elliptical Orbits, curated by May Makki (Class of 2022). Photo by: Amanda Bard.

The all-school critique of Emaús, curated by Eugenia Braniff (Class of 2022). Photo by: Amanda Bard

International Research Trip

Recent research trips include:

• 2022: 59th Venice Biennale in Venice, Italy + Frankfurt, Germany + documenta 15 in Kassel, Germany
• 2019: 58th Venice Biennale in Venice, Italy + Milan, Italy + Turin, Italy
• 2018: 10th Berlin Biennale in Berlin, Germany
• 2017: documenta 14 in Athens, Greece and Kassel, Germany
• 2016: Lima, Peru

Following the first year of study, CCS Bard students travel with faculty to an international art event or artistic center and meet with a variety of curators, artists, and other cultural producers. In addition to the large-scale events, the trip also includes visits to nearby cities to explore the local contemporary art scenes.

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

Students from the class of 2024 interact with Tania El Khoury's "Cultural Exchange Rate" at the Sharjah Biennial 15, June 2023.

Tom Eccles and students from the class of 2024 in front of the National Museum of Qatar, June 2023.

Watching Patty Chang's "Invocation for a Wandering Lake, part 2", at the NYU Abu Dhabi Art Gallery, June 2023.

CCS students (Class of 2022 and Class of 2023) meet with Cecilia Alemani, Artistic Director of the 59th Venice Biennale and CCS Bard alum (Class of 2005). Photo by: Amanda Bard

At Castello di Rivoli - Museum of Contemporary Art in Turin, Italy, CCS students (Class of 2020) view a video that is part of Hito Steyerl’s The City of Broken Windows. Photo by: Amanda Bard

While in Berlin, Germany, CCS students (Class of 2019) visit the studio of artist Rosa Barba. Photo by: Amanda Bard

Henrik Folkerts, Curator of documenta 14, meets with CCS students (Class of 2018) at the Neue Galerie in Kassel, Germany. Photo by: Amanda Bard

At Lugar de la Memoria, la Tolerancia y la Inclusión Social (Memorial Museum) with curator Jorge Villacorta, CCS students (Class of 2017) learned how the exhibition at the Memorial Museum informs the art scene in Lima and Peru. Photo by: Amanda Bard

First-Year Group-Curated Exhibitions

First Year Curatorial Practice Exhibitions 2021

• Overview
• Beyond the Mountain
• Work Under Maintenance
• After, life
• Inappropriation

During the Fall semester of their first year students create a program of group-curated exhibitions sited in the CCS Bard Galleries. The exhibitions utilize artworks and materials from the Marieluise Hessel Collection, as well as the CCS Bard Library, Archives, and Special Collections. Students propose, develop, and produce the exhibitions in consultation with CCS Bard staff and the exhibitions are open to the public for a few weeks in the first half of December.

All-school critique of Beyond the Mountain, curated by Katherine Adams, María Carri, Leo Cocar, and Ursula Pokorny (Class of 2023). Photo by: Amanda Bard

All-school critique of NEUTRAL BACKGROUND, curated by Junni Chen, May Makki, and Dominika Tylcz (Class of 2022). Photo by: Amanda Bard

All-school critique of throbbing_quivering _pulsing_beating, curated by Tash Matteson, Christine Nyce, Camila Palomino, and Candice Strongwater (Class of 2021). Photo by: Amanda Bard

Professional Development and Work Placement

During their time at CCS Bard, students gain hands-on work experience at a wide range of art institutions and receive mentoring from curators, scholars, critics, and other arts professionals. More information on Professional Development and Work Placement can be found on the Curriculum page.

Recent student work placements include:

• Amant (New York)
• Dia Art Foundation (New York)
• Cité Internationale des Art (Paris)
• Fire Island Artist Residency (New York)
• Kunstinstituut Melly (Rotterdam)
• KW Institute for Contemporary Art (Berlin)
• New Museum (New York)
• MoMA Department of Media and Performance (New York)
• MoMA PS1 (New York)
• Performa (New York)
• SculptureCenter (New York)
• Spelman College Museum of Fine Art (Atlanta)
• Tate Modern with Curator-at-Large (Los Angeles)
• The Drawing Center (New York)

Second Year: Curatorial Modules

Second Year: Curatorial Modules provides opportunities for independent curatorial and research practices in an expanded field. Students will balance independently driven research and production with collaborative group-work in order to realize a project that is presented to the public over the course of the year.

Current curatorial modules include:

• “Produce a new performance or time-based commission at EMPAC” organized by Vic Brooks (see past collaborations between EMPAC and Bard)

• “Organize and build a multisensory reading room for The Portal” organized by Cori Olinghouse

• “Develop individual oral histories centered around contemporary native art” organized by Suzanne Snider & Candice Hopkins

After CCS Bard

CCS Bard graduates number over 300 and work in a wide range of positions in the arts, both in the U.S. and internationally. Many are leaders: directors, curators, and writers, shaping contexts for art and its reception and understanding. The network of alumni is incredibly strong, supportive, and global. Graduates work or have worked at major museums, contemporary art spaces and nonprofits, for publishers and magaziners, and have been at the helm of leading biennials taking place in Berlin, São Paulo, Liverpool, Venice, and more. A full list of alumni is online here.

CCS BARD

CCS BARD

Graduate Student Thesis Exhibitions

International Research Trip

First-Year Group-Curated Exhibitions

Professional Development and Work Placement

Second Year: Curatorial Modules

After CCS Bard

CCS BARD

CCS BARD

Search Results

Graduate Student Thesis Exhibitions

International Research Trip

First-Year Group-Curated Exhibitions

Professional Development and Work Placement

Second Year: Curatorial Modules

After CCS Bard