The Marieluise Hessel Collection of contemporary art is a remarkable assembly of art across discipline, movement, and tendency; the result of six decades of research, acquisition, and exhibitions. Housed at the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, an institution Hessel co-founded in 1990, the collection of paintings, sculptures, installations, videos, and works on paper spans a period from the 1960s to the present day. Held in trust by the Marieluise Hessel Foundation, the collection provided the stimulus for the master's degree program in curatorial studies at Bard College, an innovative, multi-dimensional program that combines rigorous intellectual research with the practical experience of exhibition making.