Tom Wolf - Professor of Art History
“The newly renovated exhibition space in the Fisher Studio Arts Building permits an ambitious schedule of exhibitions, which are an integral component of the program. In addition to open student exhibitions, Senior Project shows, and Moderation exhibitions, student work on particular themes is exhibited at student-curated and faculty-curated shows. Exhibitions of work by outside artists, selected by independent curators, are also presented each year” – Bard Website
In addition to curating shows in the Fisher Studio Arts Building, Tom Wolf has organized various exhibitions and lecture series held on Bard campus. In March 2008, Wolf exhibited works done by New York City graffiti artist Nelson Keene Carse. The show took place in the Reem Kayden Science Building with the hope of integrating visual art into a non-traditional exhibition space.
(posted by Julia Paoli)
The Artist in his Studio, c. 1629. Rembrandt van Rijn
Arthur Gibbons - Professor of Studio Arts; S. William Senfeld Artist in Residence; Director, Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts
“The Bard College Exhibition Center, a 16,000-square-foot gallery and studio space in the village of Red Hook, gives graduating seniors the opportunity to present their Senior Projects in a professional space dedicated solely to the exhibition of student work.” – Bard Website
Arthur Gibbons helped found UBS, or the Bard Exhibition College Exhibition Center. It is used for student shows in the Spring, large installation classes in the Fall, and about half the seniors of the studio arts program have studios in the space. Students have a lot of responsibility for the space.
According to Gibbons, students are both taken on trips through the school to see art work in the city, but they are also encouraged to use NYC as a resource. There is some interaction between CCS and the undergraduates, most notably a newly revived initiative called the Art Club aimed at being a collaboration between CCS students junior studio arts students.
There are also 15 practicing artists on faculty for the Studio Arts department, about half of whom live and work in the area.
post by natasha llorens
Bard College spreads far beyond Annandale-on-Hudson. Looking at contemporary art at Bard College means looking at the college as a whole, as an organization whose arms stretch beyond campus, to create an international scope of interrelated activities, some of which provide home for artistic creation and involvement.
Bard College is the initiator of programs such as The Bard Prison Initiative and the Sudan Open Archive and cooperates with a number of international universities and research institutes such as Central European University in Budapest, Smolny College in St. Petersburg and a newly initiated partnership with Al-Quds University in Jerusalem. Bard students are invited to study abroad in these institutions, and respectively, students from these institutions sometimes arrive to study at Bard. These progressive programs enhance the scope of the college, opening its borders beyond Annandale-on-Hudson for artistc, research, and personal exchanges.
Smolny College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is the first liberal arts program in Russia. Located in St. Petersburg, Smolny College is a joint program between Bard College and Saint Petersburg State University initiated in 1997. Smolny is closely connected with the Human Rights Center at Bard. At the moment, 500 students are enrolled in the college, who upon graduation receive both diplomas – a Bachelor of Arts degree from Bard College and a Bachelor of Arts and Humanitarian Sciences from St. Petersburg State University.
Smolny College
As a liberal arts and sciences program, contemporary art is prevalent at Smolny College, and student clubs, for example, include Dance Performance Studio and the Sisinkin Film Club (for further information). Alumni of Smolny College go on to work in museums, art galleries, interior design firms, theatre studios, and other creative groups, places such as the hermitage, the Russian Museum, Digital Camera magazine, and art galleries across the world.
Smolny has a tradition of artistic and creative cooperation and exchange with groups or organizations in its surroundings. An interesting collaboration in the realm of contemporary art is the one with Chto delat (What Is To Be Done) group. The Chto delat platform unites artists, philosophers, social researchers, activists, and all those whose aim is the collaborative realization of a critical and independent research, publication and artistic, educational and activist projects. Joint projects between Chto delat and Smolny College in the past include lectures and artistic projects at the college. Several Chto delat members have also taught classes at Smolny.
Smolny College provides an academic environment for Chto delat members, as well as a link to an institution that renders Chto delat’s political activism to be represented in the context of academic research via the cooperation with the American institution, thus allowing the group to enjoy institutional support of their critical voice. Smolny also supports the production and production process of the Chto delat newspaper, a bilingual (Russian/English) newspaper, distributed for free, which address themes such as art, activism, philosophy, and cultural theory.
Wall Newspaper project, 2006-7
The focus is on the local Russian situation, which the newspaper tries to link to a broader international context. Contributors include artists, art theorists, philosophers, activists, and writers from Russia, Western Europe and the United States. Chto delat is taking part in the 11th International Istanbul Biennale, September 12 – November 8, 2009.
Smolny College is but one example of the way in which Bard College initiatives presently affect and support contemporary art production by creating academic platforms around the world. We invite others to contribute to this blog with similar case studies and experiences.
Members of Chto delat include Olga Egorova/Tsaplya (artist, Petersburg), Artiom Magun (philosopher, Petersburg), Nikolai Oleinikov (artist, Moscow), Natalia Pershina/Glucklya (artist, Petersburg), Alexei Penzin (philosopher, Moscow), David Riff (art critic, Moscow), Alexander Skidan (poet, critic, Petersburg), Kirill Shuvalov (artist, Petersburg), Oxana Timofeeva (philosopher, Moscow), and Dmitry Vilensky (artist, Petersburg)
Image from Builders, 2004-5
Information taken from
![This is the Parliament of Reality, a project by Olafur Eliasson, commissioned by Bard College. This permanent installation is meant to be a communal place for education and discussion, public, yet within a protected environment. The piece was made open to the public on May 15, 2009, and is still undergoing transformations within its landscape and its role as an interactive site for students, staff and visitors.
[posted by Courtney Malick]](http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kr2rkltehU1qa4akao1_250.jpg)
![This is the Parliament of Reality, a project by Olafur Eliasson, commissioned by Bard College. This permanent installation is meant to be a communal place for education and discussion, public, yet within a protected environment. The piece was made open to the public on May 15, 2009, and is still undergoing transformations within its landscape and its role as an interactive site for students, staff and visitors.
[posted by Courtney Malick]](http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kr2rkltehU1qa4akao1_500.jpg)
This is the Parliament of Reality, a project by Olafur Eliasson, commissioned by Bard College. This permanent installation is meant to be a communal place for education and discussion, public, yet within a protected environment. The piece was made open to the public on May 15, 2009, and is still undergoing transformations within its landscape and its role as an interactive site for students, staff and visitors.
[posted by Courtney Malick]
“Contemporary art at Bard” resides in part outside the limits of the campus. A critical component of the make-up of contemporary art here is the network that reaches beyond the school. Comprised of alums, donors, artists, visiting faculty and lecturers, and others with a vested interest in the school, this network is more than just a rich resource for current students. The network existing “beyond Bard” brings resources and insights from all over the world to the school, enriching contemporary art here.
While being affected by people who come to the school, we believe that Bard has an equal impact on those in its extended network. Part of our research on the beyond Bard community involves exploring how the school has had lasting influences on this group. Dan Byers graduated from the Center for Curatorial Studies in 2008. After spending one year as a curatorial fellow at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Dan took the position of Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art at Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh.
Dan, a member of the beyond Bard community, shares his thoughts below…
Q: Why did you initially select Bard? What about the CCS program, the school in general, and the arts community drew you there? What were you doing before your involvement with the school?
A: Before Bard I was Assistant to the Directors at the Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philly (a contemporary art museum and residency program). I worked very closely with artists and our production staff to realize exhibitions based on new works invited artists made in collaboration with FWM. This was an incredible opportunity for discussions about process, collaboration, and the notion of medium in contemporary art. However, it lacked a sort of “self-conscious” curatorial program beyond a commitment to supporting artists and new ways of making making work (we also engaged curators, who were, in effect, curators in residence: Mark Nash, Ellen Lupton and Abbott Miller, and Christopher Eamon, while I was there). It was this lack of an institutional curatorial position that prompted me to apply to Bard (I also realized that if I wanted to continue working with artists, as a curator, at an institution, I’d have to get a masters). I’d also had my first exposure to curating contemporary art with Ian Berry at the Tang, as a Skidmore undergrad. He was in one of the first CCS classes, so it was always something that seemed viable and legitimate. Basically, I wanted to find a place where I could have in-depth discussions about contemporary art, work with faculty I admired, meet like minded students, and generally retreat - for a time - from the pace of an institutional job (though I always wanted to return to an institution). I also was interested in Bard’s greater academic, cultural, and artistic community. Really, it seemed the only viable option for a contemporary art-focused program (despite an interest in art history, I didn’t want to study contemporary art through that approach only, which is why I didn’t apply to a program like Williams). The country/city split also appealed to me.
Q: What of Bard have you taken with you? What continues to inform and impact your work/practice today that you discovered during your time at Bard?
A: Relationships with faculty were very important. In particular, conversations, advice, and questions from Linda Norden, Michael Brenson, and Rhea Anastas have stayed with me. Tom’s attitude towards negotiating the seeming obstacles of projects was also important. I made some very close friends who are now colleagues who I go to for advice and conversation. Memories of the Hudson Valley - the estates along the river, the hard cider from the produce stand, drives by deer at night… all that is still with me. I was also exposed to a very specific notion of critically, which, for better or worse, is always in the back of my mind - some times more present than others. I also read and thought so much about contemporary art. I know so much more art history. I also know which parts of the art world I want to ignore, verses those I want to engage. Bard prepared me for my curatorial fellowship at the Walker, both intellectually, and in terms of knowledge about the systems of the art world. (On the other hand, the Walker helped me understand my Bard experience better, in relationship to institutional practice). Those contacts, discourses, and general knowledge base from CCS have also resonated with my work at the Carnegie. CCS presents an intellectual standard, which is only appropriate to varying degrees in different institutional contexts. But it was a program that I was able to get a lot out of (and also drove me crazy at times!).
Q: Have you utilized the Bard network since leaving the school?
A: Yes. In my experience, CCS alums are happy to meet and talk with only the CCS connection as entry. And Letitia is the best press release service around (not to mention kindest person around). Those who have gone through CCS know, and have generally been helpful with advice and things like that. Though I’m more dependent on my peers from the program than on those who graduated before me.
Q: Any websites that particularly light your fire?
A: Just the usual suspects. Honestly, I don’t use the internet for anything too cutting edge. I’d rather read a good magazine.
[posted by Karin Campbell]
Edible Sculpture Party 3.
http://picasaweb.google.com/ediblesculpture
Hosted by:
Tim Davis
Visiting Assistant Professor of Photography, Bard College
Pictures shown:
Frank Benson, PEPTO BISMOL FOUNTAIN
ROBERT SMITHSON SPIRAL JETTY
Dan D’Oca and Amy A, CONTEMPORARY CITY FOR 3 MILLION, LE CORBUSIER, 1922
Richard Press and Philip Gefter, DAMIEN HIRST KEBAB
[posted by Nathan Lee]
Fetish?
Photo: Cass Bird
Fetish?
Photo: Cass Bird
More photos to follow.
[posted by Clark Solack]
![This is one of the phrases imprinted in the concrete entrance/walkway leading to the CCS building and Hessel Museum, by Lawrence Weiner, entitled, Bard Enter, 2004. This project was initiated in 2004, but not completed until 2006, and was made possible largely in part by Executive Director Tom Eccles.
[posted by Courtney Malick]](http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kr2r6wHjkv1qa4akao1_250.jpg)
![This is one of the phrases imprinted in the concrete entrance/walkway leading to the CCS building and Hessel Museum, by Lawrence Weiner, entitled, Bard Enter, 2004. This project was initiated in 2004, but not completed until 2006, and was made possible largely in part by Executive Director Tom Eccles.
[posted by Courtney Malick]](http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kr2r6wHjkv1qa4akao1_500.jpg)
This is one of the phrases imprinted in the concrete entrance/walkway leading to the CCS building and Hessel Museum, by Lawrence Weiner, entitled, Bard Enter, 2004. This project was initiated in 2004, but not completed until 2006, and was made possible largely in part by Executive Director Tom Eccles.
[posted by Courtney Malick]
![This is a flag outside of CCS, made by Rachel Harrison, for her current exhibition ‘Consider the Lobster’ at the CCS Galleries. The first flag on the flag pole was made by Frank Benson, and later another, by Peter Coffin, was bought by Tom Eccles. It was on the suggestion of Marcia Acita that Rachel Harrison was asked to create her own flag emblem for her show, though it is not considered a true work of art. When Harrison’s show is over, either the Benson or Coffin flag will be hung.
[posted by Courtney Malick]](http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kr2qvhm0XA1qa4akao1_250.jpg)
![This is a flag outside of CCS, made by Rachel Harrison, for her current exhibition ‘Consider the Lobster’ at the CCS Galleries. The first flag on the flag pole was made by Frank Benson, and later another, by Peter Coffin, was bought by Tom Eccles. It was on the suggestion of Marcia Acita that Rachel Harrison was asked to create her own flag emblem for her show, though it is not considered a true work of art. When Harrison’s show is over, either the Benson or Coffin flag will be hung.
[posted by Courtney Malick]](http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kr2qvhm0XA1qa4akao1_500.jpg)
This is a flag outside of CCS, made by Rachel Harrison, for her current exhibition ‘Consider the Lobster’ at the CCS Galleries. The first flag on the flag pole was made by Frank Benson, and later another, by Peter Coffin, was bought by Tom Eccles. It was on the suggestion of Marcia Acita that Rachel Harrison was asked to create her own flag emblem for her show, though it is not considered a true work of art. When Harrison’s show is over, either the Benson or Coffin flag will be hung.
[posted by Courtney Malick]
