Profile for Sierra Rooney

Specialty area(s)

Art History

Art of the United States
Public Art, Monuments and Memorials
Museum Studies
Gender Studies

Brief biography

I am a teacher and scholar of Art of the United States, commemorative practices and museum studies. As an art historian, I am dedicated to activating art history to foster civic and historical engagement and social dialogue.

My scholarship, whether academic or public, is guided by the question of how public monuments and museum collections can be used to interrogate the intersections of art, place, history, identity, and power, looking to critical role that sculptural materiality and its symbolic value play in social conceptions of gender and race.

My in-progress work, Monumental Women: Statues to Women and the Heroic Ideal in the United States is digital humanities project that conceptualizes, historicizes, and visualizes public monuments dedicated to historic women in the United States through an open access catalog, interactive map, and accompanying book.

Current courses at UWL

ART 102: Art Appreciation

ART 251: Survey of Art History

ART 331: Art and the Environment in the U.S.

Education

Ph.D., Stony Brook University

M.A., The City College of NewYork

B.A., Emerson College

Career

Research and publishing

Books

Teachable Monuments: Using Public Art to Spark Dialogue and Confront Controversies, co-edited with Jennifer Wingate and Harriet F. Senie (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2021).

Journal Articles (peer reviewed)

"Commemorations of an Epoch: Monuments to the Women's Suffrage Movement in the United States," Panorama: Journal of the Association of Historians of American Art (Fall 2021).

"The Politics of Commemorating the Woman Suffrage Movement in New York City: On Women's Rights Pioneer Monument," Journal of Urban History (August 2020).

“The Glendale Comfort Women Memorial and the Complications of Transnational Commemorations.” De Arte 53, no. 2 (Fall 2018).

“It’s Not About a Statue: Fred Wilson’s E Pluribus Unum.” Public Art Dialogue 4, no. 2 (2014).

Anthology Essays & Other Publications

Guest Editor, special issue "Public Art and Gender," Public Art Dialogue 11, no 1 (Spring 2021).

“Sakakawea’s Long Trek to the United States Capitol: Representation and Diversity in the National Statuary Hall,” Capitol Dome (Fall 2019).

“Your City is the Source: A Conversation About ICA/Vita Brevis.” In Museums and Public Art? Cher Krause Knight and Harriet Senie, eds. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2018.

“Vita Brevis: A Public Art Initiative at Boston’ Institute of Contemporary Art.” In Artists Reclaim the Commons: New Works/ New Territories / New Publics. Glenn Harper and Twlene Moyer, eds. ISC Press, 2013.

News

You in a jar Project challenges students to share their truths, build community through vulnerability

Where are all of the women statues? UWL expert explains why only 6% of statues in the U.S. are of real women

AIDS Memorial Quilt Panels honoring those lost to AIDS returning to UW-La Crosse

Art Faculty Exhibition Exhibition includes variety of latest art

Kudos

awarded

Ariel Beaujot, History; Nese Nasif, Marketing; and Kathleen Hawkes, Lisa Lenarz, Marc Manke and Sierra Rooney, all Visual & Performing Arts; received the award for Preservation Alliance of La Crosse Heritage Award at Preservation Alliance of La Crosse Banquet on Wednesday, Sept. 6 in La Crosse, WI, USA. Preservation Alliance of La Crosse has granted us the 2023 Heritage Award for contribution to Historic Preservation via the Hear, Here Project.

Submitted on: Aug. 28

interviewed

Sierra Rooney, Art, was interviewed by Kate Archer Kent of Wisconsin Public Radio on Thursday, March 16. The interview discussed women in public monuments, including the planned statue of Vell Phillips for the State Capitol.

Submitted on: Mar. 16

published

Sierra Rooney, Art, authored the article "Commemoration of an Epoch: Monuments to the Women’s Suffrage Movement in the United States" in Panorama: Journal of the Association of Historians of American Art published on Wednesday, Nov. 17 by University of Minnesota . The article is part of “Toward a More Inclusive Digital Art History,” an initiative funded by the Terra Foundation for American Art that aims to increase access to data-driven methods in American art studies. Focusing on public monuments to women’s suffrage, "Commemorations of an Epoch" offers a picture of the national commemoration of women in the public landscape through interactive features, including ArcGIS maps and full data set.

Submitted on: Nov. 17, 2021

presented

Sierra Rooney, Art; Megan Litster, Biology; Katherine Lavelle, Communication Studies; Sarah Pember, Health Education & Health Promotion; and Jennifer Kosiak, Mathematics & Statistics; presented "Where Do We Go From Here?" at OPID Spring Conference on Teaching on Friday, April 16 online. Invited to be featured roundtable presentation.

Submitted on: April 16, 2021