Dear Alumni,

I would like to extend a warm welcome to the class of 2022, who are receiving their first of many issues of the Alumni Newsletter this week! Congratulations on all your achievements at BGC, I wish you all the best as you bring the knowledge and skills you have cultivated to fresh projects and audiences.

To our newest alumni members, I hope you will use this bi-weekly newsletter as a collective resource for jobs, news, and events. And to all: please feel free to share your updates, either by email or through the online form. 

Happy Pride! Happy Juneteenth! Happy Summer Salad Season!

Warmly,
Rachael Schwabe (MA ‘20)
alumni@bgc.bard.edu

Alumni Spotlight

Kimberly Sørensen (MA ‘11), Design Specialist at Phillip’s in New York spoke to David Moss about Harry Bertoia’s Sonambients, in conjunction with auction house’s June 7 Design Sale. Well done, Kimberly!

Select Career Opportunities

Select Events at BGC

Conserving Remains: A Conversation on Death, Preservation, and Exhibition
Wednesday, June 22
6 pm (In Person)
How do we care for, preserve, present, and contextualize bones, remains, and mummified bodies? And why do we do it? Join us for a fascinating conversation that explores the scientific, ethical, and curatorial aspects of working with human and animal remains in collections and exhibitions. Moderated by BGC graduate student Ellen Enderle and featuring a panel of experts including conservator Lisa Bruno, Professor Samuel J. Redman, and Conserving Active Matter curator Soon Kai Poh who will also share details about three objects in the exhibition related to this topic.

Film Night: Whale Rider and the Exhibition of Paikea
Wednesday, June 29
6 pm (In Person)
As part of Conserving Active Matter, Bard Graduate Center will host the ancestral Māori figure of Paikea, visiting us from the American Museum of Natural History with the cooperation of his Te Aitanga a Hauiti relatives in New Zealand. In recognition of this honor, we will screen the 2002 film Whale Rider by Niki Caro (based on the novel by Witi Ihimaera), which tells a story of Paikea’s modern-day descendants. Dr. Wayne Ngata will provide a video introduction, connecting the figure to the film, and the past to the present.

Select Virtual and In-Person Events Out in The World

Juneteenth Concert: Dwayne “Cook” Broadnax
Saturday, June 18
2–3 pm ET (In Person)
NYC Parks is excited to be a Festival of New York partner and we want you to join us! Born in Philadelphia, but a longtime Brooklyn resident, Dwayne “Cook” Broadnax studied at Berklee College of Music and went on to work with many musical greats, including Kevin Eubanks, Eartha Kitt, Illinois Jacquet, Savion Glover, and a 14-year run with the legendary Little Jimmy Scott.

Celebrate Juneteenth in Seneca Village
Sunday, June 19
10 am–2 pm ET (In Person)
Juneteenth in Seneca Village offers an opportunity to not only consider the origins and meaning of this day, but to reflect on Seneca Village, a predominately African-American community that existed before New York City created Central Park and long before we celebrated Juneteenth. Discover the history of this community and see performances by award-winning artists throughout the Park’s Seneca Village landscape that honor the voices and cultures that once resided here.

I Dream a Dream That Dreams Back at Me: A Juneteenth Celebration
Sunday, June 19
7 pm ET (In Person)
Curated and directed by Carl Hancock Rux, I Dream a Dream is a commemoration of the 156th anniversary of Juneteenth, unfolding across Lincoln Center. The evening begins with a musical introduction featuring vocalists Nona Hendryx with Étienne Lashley and The Collective, performing a song by Gordon Chambers commissioned for this event, alongside original songs by Vernon Reid and Hendryx with lyrics by Lynn Nottage and costumes by Dianne Smith. We continue with a deconstructed National Anthem, remixing Francis Scott Key and James Weldon Johnson, as sung by actress Patrice Johnson Chevannes. The evening culminates with a concert by Grammy winner, Cedric Burnside, and concludes with a Silent Disco Dance Party from DJ Belinda Becker, honoring contributions of Black Americans to modern music.

The “Magnificent Style” of Emily Thompson
Tuesday, June 21 
7–8 pm ET (In Person)
Join Flower Craft artist Emily Thompson and Nancy Hass, writer at large for T: The New York Times Style Magazine, for a discussion of evoking nature “in magnificent style.” The sculptor-turned-botanical artist, who draws inspiration from the eighteenth-century ideals of the picturesque and her intense engagement with the natural world, will also give a live demonstration of how she animates living materials into sublime floral installations.

Visual & Material Interconnections Book Series Prêt-à-Porter, Paris and Women Launch
Tuesday, June 21
7–8 pm ET
The Courtauld Institute of Art is proud to announce the launch of a new book series–a collaboration between Bloomsbury Publishing and The Courtauld that brings together scholarly and innovative approaches to understanding the relationship between the visual and material in forming fashion and dress cultures. In the first critical history of French readymade fashion, Alexis Romano (MA ‘10) examines an array of sources, including surviving garments, fashion magazines, film, photography and interviews, to weave together previously disparate historical narratives. The resulting volume Prêt-à-Porter, Paris and Women: A Cultural Study of Readymade Fashion, 1945-68, situates the readymade in wider postwar discourses of gender, art, design, urbanism, technology and the everyday.

June Anti-Racism Discussion: The Legacy of Stonewall
Tuesday, June 21
7–8:30 pm ET
As author and activist Angela Davis said, “In a racist society, it is not enough to be non-racist. We must be anti-racist.” Join the Baltimore County Public Library for a monthly discussion around issues of racial justice. This month, we will celebrate Pride Month through a discussion of the videos and articles.

Artist Talk: Heart of a Shapeshifter with Coyote Park
Thursday, June 23
7–8 pm ET (In Person)
Heart of a Shapeshifter: 2Spirit Love Medicine is a collection of poems, short essays, and prose by Coyote Park. It explores transformation, non-linear transitions, ancestor worship, diaspora, T4T romance, non-monogamy, queer awakenings, and various intersections of Park’s lived experiences. Woven throughout the collection are 8 Vessels, taking shape as themed chapters and representing lifetimes. Throughout these vessels, Coyote reflects on extensions of themself, their lovers, and what love medicine means to them. Heart of a Shapeshifter is born out of the passion of Brown leather dykes, Trans Deities, and the fierce and overflowing protection of Spirit. A collection of writing to all of those yearning to love and shapeshift freely.

Make a gift today

Celebrate the class of 2022 with a contribution today! Our gifts support all the things that make goals and dreams possible! Click here to donate. For recent graduates, click here. Thanks in advance!

Shop the BGC Store!

Visit our online store at store.bgc.bard.edu for 40% off all items. Enter code ALUMNI at checkout to receive the discount.

Sign up for Gaggle!

Gaggle.mail is an opt-in list-serv that serves as a place to share job openings, conference attendance, published books/articles, and exhibition openings directly with fellow alums. It’s a communication forum for alumni, by alumni. To circulate your news in the Gaggle group, send an email to bgcalumni@gaggle.email.