L–R: M. Gessen, distinguished visiting writer at Bard College, and Bard alumna Juliana Spahr ’88.

Bard College Faculty M. Gessen and Alumna Juliana Spahr ’88 Win Pulitzer Prizes

M. Gessen, distinguished visiting writer at Bard College, and Bard alumna Juliana Spahr ’88 have been awarded Pulitzer Prizes. The Pulitzer committee awarded Gessen a prize in Opinion Writing for their “illuminating collection of reported essays on rising authoritarian regimes that draw on history and personal experience to probe timely themes of oppression, belonging and exile.” Spahr was awarded a prize in Poetry for Ars Poeticas, a poetry collection examining her relationship to her art form, community, and politics. 

L–R: Alva Rogers MAT ’12 (photo by Dawoud Bey), and Sadie Wechsler ’07.

Bard Alumnae Awarded Guggenheim Fellowships for 2026

Two Bard College alumnae, Alva Rogers MAT ’12 and Sadie Wechsler ’07, have been awarded 2026 Guggenheim Fellowships by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Rogers was awarded as a fellow in Drama and Performance Art, and Wechsler was awarded as a fellow in the field of Photography.

L–R: . Walid Raad, professor of photography, and Tom Eccles, executive director of the Center for Curatorial Studies and the Hessel Museum of Art.

Bard Faculty and CCS Alumnae Featuring in the Venice Biennale

The 2026 Venice Biennale, the renowned international cultural exhibition, will feature works by Bard faculty members and Center for Curatorial Studies alumnae. Walid Raad, professor of photography at Bard, is featured in the main exhibition, In Minor Keys, and will also participate in two mixed media installations. Tom Eccles, executive director of the Center for Curatorial Studies and the Hessel Museum of Art, and Ruba Katrib CCS ’07 are cocurators of the show Untitled (a gathering of remarkable people). Additionally, Josefina Barcia CCS ’24 is curating the Argentine Pavilion, Do Tuong Linh CCS ’25 is curating the Vietnamese Pavilion, and Dermis León CCS ’01 is cocurating the Chilean Pavilion.

L-R: Andrew Durbin ’12 (photo by Jeff Henrikson) and his book, The Wonderful World That Almost Was.

New Book by Andrew Durbin ’12 Reviewed in Several Publications

The Wonderful World That Almost Was: A Life of Peter Hujar and Paul Thek, a new book by Bard alumnus Andrew Durbin ’12, was reviewed in the Atlantic and the Guardian. “Durbin’s careful analysis, especially of Thek’s work, is essential,” the Atlantic writes.