Dr. Sierra Rooney is Associate Professor of Art History at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, specializing in art of the United States, particularly commemorations of women, monuments and the politics of representation.

She is joint editor with Jennifer Wingate and Harriet F. Senie, of Teachable Monuments: Using Public Art to Spark Dialogue and Confront Controversies (Bloomsbury, 2021). Her writing has appeared in journals such as Panorama, Public Art Dialogue, De Arte, Journal of Urban History, and Capitol Dome, as well as the collections, Artists Reclaim the Commons and Museums and Public Art?. She earned a PhD in Art History and Criticism from Stony Brook University, and an MA in Art History and Museum Studies from The City College of New York (CUNY).

She is currently working on a book and digital humanities project examining statues of women in the U.S.

Research interests:

• Art of the United States
• Public Art
• Public sculpture and monuments
• Commemorative practices
• Museum Studies
• Gender Studies
• Women’s History

Courses Taught:

• Art of the United States
• Public Art in the United States
• Museum Studies
• Global Feminisms
• Gender and Contemporary Visual Culture
• Themes of Contemporary Art
• Writing about Art
• Art History I & II
• Art Appreciation

As an educator, I practice socially engaged art history, using art and public space as sites for interdisciplinary pedagogy and social engagement.