[2] The Museum draws from the Marieluise Hessel Collection of Contemporary Art, which contains more than 1,700 objects on permanent loan to Bard.

The Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College was expanded and renovated in 2006 to include the Hessel Museum of Art, 17,000 feet of galleries built to accommodate its growing collections and programs.

[3] The CCS facility, which houses a two-year graduate program in curatorial studies, comprises several interconnected parts, including a library and archive in addition to the Hessel Museum.

[1] The gift includes works by Ricci Albenda, Trisha Baga, Uta Barth, John Bock, Matthew Brannon, Patty Chang, Phil Collins, Anne Collier, Martin Creed, Aaron Curry, Moyra Davey, Verne Dawson, Marlene Dumas, Roe Etheridge, Karl Haendel, Rachel Harrison, Richard Hawkins, Karen Kilimnik, Michael Krebber, Friedrich Kunath, Henry Taylor, Rirkrit Tiravanija, and Sue Williams, among many others.

In addition to group exhibitions, the Hessel Museum has shown a number of monographic exhibitions, including presentations of works by Liam Gillick, Amy Sillman, Rachel Harrison, Blinky Palermo (in collaboration with Dia:Beacon), Sky Hopinka, Daniel Steegmann Mangrané, Dara Birnbaum, Martine Syms, and others.