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May 2023
News for Bard
Families & Friends |
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Dear Families:
Senior Project Day was last week! Congratulations to our Senior Families, those projects were possible because of your support and encouragement as well as your student’s very hard work.
The Bard community is preparing and prepping for Commencement—Bard’s Commencement is unique just like your student. This year we are honored to have U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock as the Commencement speaker. Dinner, dancing, and fireworks to follow.
There is still time to participate in #Bardshoutoutday. Please submit your tribute here: Submit your Shoutout
Join me in celebrating some amazing accomplishments that have recently taken place already.
The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation has awarded 2023 Guggenheim Fellowships to Bard faculty members, Felicia Keesing, David and Rosalie Rose Distinguished Professor of Science, Mathematics, and Computing, Laura Larson, cochair of photography at the Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts, and Jordan Weber, visiting artist in residence at Studio Arts. Fellowships were also awarded to two Bard alumni/ae, photographer Sasha Phyars-Burgess ’10, and artist Martine Syms MFA ’18.
I would be remiss to give a shoutout to this year's scholarship winners, who are a small representation of what a Bard education can do. Rhodes Scholars: Sonita Alizada ’23 and Nawara Alaboud ’23 (Bard Berlin). Schwarzman Scholars: Evan Tims ’19, Edris Tajik ’23, and Michael Nyakundi ’23. Fulbright Scholars: Juliana Maitenaz ’22, Elias Ephron ’23, Eleanor Tappan ’23, Evan Tims ’19, Getzamany Correa ’23 (alternate), and Macy Jenks ’23 (alternate).
If you live nearby, there are many concerts, exhibitions, and screenings happening on campus this month, be sure to check the Bard Events Calendar and support our students by attending. In addition, the Fisher Center is celebrating its 20th anniversary and there will be Summerscape events all summer. We would love to have you in the audience.
I hope you and your loved ones have a wonderful Summer.
Best,
Sasha Boak-Kelly
Senior Director of Development
845-758-7407
P.S. If you have already made a donation to the College this year, thank you! If you have not, please consider donating before June 30, 2023, and supporting Bard this year. All gifts have an impact and any amount meaningful to you makes a difference. Visit giving.bard.edu/bcf to donate today.
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Dates to Remember
- May 11, 2023: Registration for Fall classes opens at 8am.
- May 12, 2023: The final day to apply for on-campus housing during the summer.
- May 17, 2023: #Bardshoutoutday. Don’t forget to participate by May 12, 2023.
- May 19, 2023: The last day to reserve end-of-school-year seats through Bard Transportation for special shuttles providing transportation to airports and train stations.
- May 24, 2023: All students not participating in Commencement need to be moved out of on-campus housing by noon.
- May 27, 2023: Bard College's 163rd Commencement.
- May 28, 2023: All students participating in Commencement need to be moved out of on-campus housing by noon.
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Important Housing Information
Please click the following link for important information from Residential Life and Housing regarding residence hall closings and check-out procedures. If you have any questions, please contact [email protected].
More information
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Clockwise, from top left: Felicia Keesing, Jordan Weber, Laura Larson, Martine Syms MFA ’17, Sasha Phyars-Burgess ’10, and Jessica Segall ’00.
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2023 Guggenheim Fellowships Awarded to Three Bard College Faculty Members and Four Bard Alumnae
The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation has awarded 2023 Guggenheim Fellowships to three Bard faculty members and four Bard alumnae. Felicia Keesing, David and Rosalie Rose Distinguished Professor of Science, Mathematics, and Computing, Laura Larson, cochair of photography at the Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts, Jordan Weber, visiting artist in residence at Studio Arts, artist Diane Severin Nguyen MFA ’20, photographer Sasha Phyars-Burgess ’10, artist Jessica Segall ’00, and artist Martine Syms MFA ’17 have been named 2023 Guggenheim Fellows.
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Tschabalala Self. Photo by Daniel Gurton
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Visiting Artist in Residence Tschabalala Self’s Debut European Museum Exhibition Featured in Artnet News Spotlight
Tschabalala Self ’12, visiting artist in residence in Studio Arts, is the subject of her first solo European museum exhibition Tschabalala Self: Inside Out, on view at Kunstmuseum St. Gallen in Switzerland through June 18. Curated by Gianni Jetzer, the show centers the Black body, especially the female Black body, through the conceptual and compositional lens of the artist in what Self has termed as a “pantheon of invented characters.”
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Tan Dun. Photo by Nana Watanabe
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Bard Conservatory of Music Presents Orchestra Concert with World-Renowned Conductor and Composer Tan Dun on May 13
The Bard Conservatory Orchestra presents a concert celebrating works by Bedřich Smetana (1824–84), Claude Debussy (1862–1918), Grigoraș Dinicu (1889–1949), Tōru Takemitsu (1930–96), and Benjamin Britten (1913–76). Conducted by Tan Dun, world-renowned conductor and composer, the program will feature Smetana’s Vltava (The Moldau), No. 2, from Má Vlast (My Country); Debussy’s Rhapsody for Saxophone and Orchestra with saxophone player Eric Zheng ’24; and Dinicu’s Ciocârlia (The Lark) with violinist Yida An ’24. Following an intermission, it continues with Takemitsu’s I Hear the Water Dreaming with flautist Jillian Reed ’21; and Britten’s Four Sea Interludes, Op. 33a from the opera Peter Grimes.
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Bryon Russ.
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Governor Kathy Hochul Grants Clemency to Bryon Russ Whose Petition Included an Advocacy Video Coproduced by Bard Human Rights Students
Governor Hochul recently announced that she has granted clemency to seven people—an action that fulfills her commitment to granting clemency on a rolling basis, rather than only once at the end of each year. The Governor’s announcement includes commuting the sentence of Bryon Russ, one of the individuals with whom Bard undergraduate students—as part of the seminar Human Rights 321, Advocacy Video—created a video presentation to accompany his clemency petition. Bard students Maeve Potter ’20, Charlotte Geissler ’21, Adrianna Candor ’20, and the late Margarita Kuchma MA ’23 worked with a team of students at CUNY Law School and the human rights organization WITNESS to prepare the video in fall 2019.
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Bard College Landscape and Arboretum Program Renews Accreditation from ArbNet
The Landscape and Arboretum Program at Bard College has renewed its Level II accreditation with ArbNet, an interactive, collaborative, international community of arboreta and tree-focused professionals. ArbNet facilitates the sharing of knowledge, experience, and other resources to help tree-based botanical gardens meet their institutional goals and works to help elevate practices through the ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program, the only global initiative to officially recognize arboreta based on a set of professional standards.
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Bass-baritone Alfred Walker. Photo by Walter Hill
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July 21–30: Bard SummerScape Presents First Major American Production of Saint-Saëns’s Grand Opera Henri VIII
As a highlight of its landmark 20th anniversary season: Breaking Ground, Bard SummerScape presents the first major new American production of Camille Saint-Saëns’s unjustly neglected grand opera Henri VIII. Starring bass-baritone Alfred Walker, who combines “vocal heft and theatrical intensity” (Wall Street Journal), Henri VIII will run for five performances in an original staging by visionary French director Jean-Romain Vesperini in the Frank Gehry-designed Fisher Center on Bard’s glorious Hudson Valley campus (July 21, 23, 26, 28, and 30).
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Thank you for your support!
A big thanks to our families and friends who made a gift to the College since our last newsletter. Your generosity makes it possible for Bard to educate thousands of students each year:
Anonymous (3)•Emily H. Fisher and John Alexander•David J. Beattie and Susan R. Beattie•Ilya Levinson and Martine Benmann•Alicia Beth•Sharon E. Garbe '83 and David Blumel•Paul M. Boocock and Peggy A. Grauwiler•Hilary Pennington and Brian Bosworth•Geraldine Brodsky•Judith L. Clark '52•Peter Coopersmith and Heather Hart•Matthew D. Cameron '04 and Meredith Danowski•Eurydice Decker•Bonnie T. Goad and Daniel Donohue•Rand Whipple and Anne Dowd•Gregory Fields and Rozanna Leo-Fields•Adaline H. Frelinghuysen•Kenneth Frieden•Eric Hadley and Debora Wood•Joe Hatch-Surisook and Holly Hatch-Surisook•Gloria Herrera•Judah Hughes and Kim Hughes•Gretchen Jacott and Carlos Jacott•Charles S. Johnson '70 and Sondra R. Johnson•David Meikle•Bruce Paddock and Arliss Paddock•Paulin Paris and Carmen Thomas-Paris•Susan N Perkins•Gina Pollara•Milena Rashba•Sandra T. Renner•David W. Jacobowitz '65 and Linda Rodd•Robert Schlief and Christine Sloane•Alix M. Shafer '78 and Denis Duman•Richard Shafer•Todd Spangler and Tracy Spangler•Raissa J. St. Pierre '87•Ka-Man Tse•Jane A. Brien '89 and Stewart Verrilli•Rachel Webster•Wendy Westley
Recent donations will be acknowledged in the June Insider. |
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Bard Family Leadership Council (FLC)
Members of the Family Leadership Council (FLC) play a key role in the Bard community through a range of optional activities: developing and participating in on-campus and regional recruiting and mentoring events, promoting and providing career opportunities for students, and participating in peer-to-peer fundraising. Parents and family members on the FLC play a prominent role in the success of the Bard College Fund through annual gifts of $1,500 or greater. The Family Leadership Council meets two times each year—once during Family and Alumni/ae Weekend and again in the spring. If you are interested in joining the Family Leadership Council, please contact Sasha Boak-Kelly, Senior Director of Development at 845-758-7407. |
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Updates from the Senior Class Council
The Senior Class Council is hard at work in their annual fundraising initiatives toward the Senior Class Gift. This year, the Council has voted to raise money to upgrade kitchen appliances in Gilson Place, a safe space on campus run by and for BIPOC students. Many students use the kitchen in Gilson Place to make home-cooked meals that aren’t available in the dining hall, from family recipes to cultural dishes. One of the Gilson Place mottos is “home away from home.”
Currently, the space depends on club funds to host events and provide furniture and other community needs, which is not enough for students to make the changes that will matter most.
Here’s where you come in: the Senior Class Council is asking for families' support in their efforts to make students’ “home away from home” feel a bit more, well, at home! You can make a gift directly on our website in support of Gilson Place. Your support will make a real difference in the lives of BIPOC students on campus in the coming years and will help create a more inclusive and supportive community on campus. Any gift, no matter the size, will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for your ongoing support for the Bard community.
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Updates from CCE
Bard student teaches ceramics to Red Hook youth
Learn More Here
What Civic Engagement is ... and is not, by Jonathan Becker
Read More Here
The Gagarin Center at Bard College and PEN America establish Russian Independent Media Archive
Read More Here
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Updates from CDO
CDO Programs in May
Mock Interview Week will be held the week of May 8th! - Students can sign up to practice interviewing skills with a supportive CDO adviser who will share interview strategies, tips, and feedback. A great way to prepare for future interviews!
On May 10, CDO will be hosting a Linkedin Workshop for students to learn about how to create a Linkedin profile and this program will also highlight useful ways to get connected to alumni/ae and employers.
On May 11, CDO will also be hosting a Linkedin Photo Booth for students to have professional Linkedin photos taken.
Bard Seniors - CDO encourages seniors to schedule a time to meet with a CDO adviser to talk about next steps and post-graduate plans. Students can schedule an appointment through Handshake or email CDO at [email protected]. In addition to one-on-one advising, CDO has a host of resources and assessments that can help students identify their own strengths, interests, and values and prepare for employment, graduate school, or post-grad opportunities. CDO staff are here to support students and can assist with conversations about career pathways, as well as offer support for polishing application materials and preparing for employment or graduate school interviews.
CDO is open all summer long for virtual and in-person meetings. Congratulations to all of the graduating seniors!
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Updates from the Fisher Center
The Fisher Center at Bard celebrates its 20th Anniversary with SummerScape 2023 - Seven weeks of music, opera, dance-theater, and the enchanting Spiegeltent - June 22–August 14.
Highlights include the world premiere of Illinois, a new commission from Sufjan Stevens, Justin Peck, and Jackie Sibblies Drury, the first major American production of Saint-Saëns’s Henri Vlll, and the 33rd Bard Music Festival: Vaughan Williams and His World.
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