Research Scholar
Education
PhD in Art History, 1985, Northwestern University
MA in Art History, 1982, Northwestern University
BA, 1976, University of New MexicoAcademic Experience
Research Scholar
Publications
Books and Edited VolumesSharon Irish. Spaces Between: The Art of Suzanne Lacy. Work in progress.
Sharon Irish. Cass Gilbert, Architect: Modern Traditionalist. New York: Monacelli Press, 1999.
Sharon Irish, editor. Special Issue of Technology and Culture: Essays in Honor of Carl Condit 30 (April 1989).
Edward N. Kaufman and Sharon L. Irish. Medievalism: An Annotated Bibliography of Recent
Research in the Architecture and Art of Britain and North America. New York: Garland Publishing, 1988.
Articles
Sharon Irish. “Skyscraper.” Encyclopedia of American Urban History. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, In press.
________. “Shadows in the Garden: ‘The Dark Madonna’ Project by Suzanne Lacy.” Landscape Journal 26:1 (Spring 2007): In press.
________. “Awareness through Movement: Anish Kapoor’s ‘Cloudgate’ in Chicago.” Senses and Society 1(March 2006): 97-99.
_______. “Tenant to Tenant: The Art of Talking with Strangers [on Stephen Willats].” Places 16.3 (2004): 61-67.
________. “Intimacy and Monumentality in Chandigarh, North India: Le Corbusier’s Capitol Complex and Nek Chand Saini’s Rock Garden,” Journal of Aesthetic Education 38 (Summer 2004): 105-15.
________. “New York City Skyline, about 1915.” Technology and Culture 43 (January 2002).
________. "'Great Gray Buildings': The United States Army Supply Base in Brooklyn, New York." Pp. 163-174. In Cass Gilbert, Life and Work: Architect of the Public Domain. Edited by Barbara S. Christen and Steven Flanders. New York: W.W. Norton, 2001.
________. "Cass Gilbert in Practice, 1884-1934." Pp. 1-34. In Inventing the Skyline: The Architecture of Cass Gilbert. Edited by Margaret Heilbrun and Mary Beth Betts. New York: Columbia University Press, 2000.
________. Biographical entries on Charles Ellet, Jr.; John Gaw Meem; Paul Starrett; William A. Starrett; and Thomas E. Tallmadge. In American National Biography. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
________. "Physical Spaces and Public Life." Nordic Journal of Architectural Research 4 (1994): 25-34. ________. "West Hails East: Cass Gilbert in Minnesota." Minnesota History 53/5 (Spring 1993): 196-207.
________. "Introduction to Essays in Honor of Carl Condit," Technology and Culture 30 (April 1989): 249-254.
_______."A 'Machine that Makes the Land Pay': The West Street Building in New York," Technology and Culture 30 (April 1989): 376-397.
_________. "Can the Law Save Beauty?" Update on Law-Related Education 7 (Winter 1983): 26-29, 63-64.
________. "Beaux-Arts Teamwork in an American Architectural Office: Cass Gilbert's Entry in the New York Custom House Competition." New Mexico Studies in the Fine Arts 7 (1982): 10-13.
Book Reviews
in the Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians (2005-); Technology and Culture (2000-); Journal of the American Planning Association (2002); Design Book Review (1997-2000); H-URBAN online reviews (1998-2000); Minnesota History (1998); Judges' Journal (1983)
Exhibits
Guest Curator, "From Site to Insight: The Design and Renovation of Cass Gilbert's United States Custom House," Exhibit held at the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House, October 8, 1998 to February 7, 1999
Research
19th and 20th century architecture of the United States and Canada; international modernism; contemporary performance art in urban spaces
Professional Memberships
Society for the History of Technology, College Art Association, Society of Architectural Historians, National Trust for Historic Preservation, Women’s Caucus for Art
Professional and University Service
Review Editor for H-Urban (in architecture and planning), 2004-
Advisory Editor, Technology and Culture: The International Quarterly of the Society for the History of Technology, 2001-
Co-organizer with Ryan Griffis and Nick Brown, “Critical Spatial Practices” Reading Group, Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities, Fall 2006-http://www.walkinginplace.org/iprh/index.htm
Session Chair, “The Architectures of (Unbe)longing,” Society of Architectural Historians Annual Meeting, Savannah, GA, April 28, 2006
Organizer and coordinator of “Arts and Humanities in Civic Life” Reading Group, Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities, Fall 2001 and Spring 2002, including a 10-day visit to campus of artist Suzanne Lacy (November 2001) and co-organizer of Institute of Planning and Zoning (April 2002)
Commissioner, Urbana Historic Preservation Commission, July 2000-July 2003
Session Chair, "Political Uses of Built Space," Society of Architectural Historians Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, April 29, 1994
Session Chair, "Writing the History of Chicago and Its Buildings," Society of Architectural Historians Annual Meeting, Chicago, April 15, 1988
Other Activities
Participant, Critical Studies of Whiteness Reading Group, Center on Democracy in a Multiracial Society, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Spring 2003-ongoing
Team member on “Hands-On, Plugged In: Living on the Prairie,” an interdisciplinary, interactive website and outreach program to central Illinois secondary school teachers, funded by the Silicon, Carbon, Culture initiative, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 2002-04
Participant, “Teaching the Visual Thinking Strategies,” Visual Understanding in Education Institute, Boston, MA, June 26-29, 2000
Consultant, G.G. Heye Center of the National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution, Docent-Trainer and Interpreter for tours of the United States Custom House, June and November, 1998
Participant, Visual Learning Colloquium with Philip Yenawine, Center for Advanced Study, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Spring and Fall 1996
Awards and Honors
Book: Cass Gilbert, Architect: Winner of David Gebhard Book Award of the Minnesota Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians, 2000; Winner of Publication Award, Metropolitan Chapter of the Victorian Society in America, 2000; Finalist, Minnesota Center for the Book award in History, 2000
Grants: University of Illinois Research Board, 1985-87, 1993, 2000-01, 2003-04
Fellowship: Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 2000-2001
Grant: Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, MN, 1991-92
James J. Hill Fellowship, J.J. Hill Reference Library, St. Paul, MN, 1985
Dissertation Year Fellowship, Northwestern University, 1982-83
Fellowship: Howard Phalin Foundation for Graduate Study, Chicago, 1982-83
Sharon Irish