The Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music leads our leading arts and music education institution. Fine Arts and Music is the proud home of the Victorian College of the Arts, the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music and the Wilin Centre for Indigenous Arts and Cultural Development.
Professor Marie Sierra is Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music, a role she has held since 2021.
Marie completed her PhD in Architecture & Design from RMIT University in 2004, having worked there for 15 years in various Associate Dean roles, as well as teaching sculpture.
She worked at the Victorian College of the Arts between 2004-2010, as the Head of Sculpture & Spatial Practice, the Coordinator of Higher Degrees Research (MFA & PhD) for the School of Art, and as Associate Dean (Research).
In 2010, Marie joined the University of Tasmania, where she became Head of the Tasmanian College of the Arts, which was comprised of the art schools in Hobart and Launceston, the Conservatorium of Music in Hobart, and theatre in Launceston. This was a return to the University of Tasmania for her, having undertaken a Master of Fine Art there in 1984 and 1985.
From Tasmania, Marie moved to the University of New South Wales to take up the role of Deputy Dean at the Faculty of Art & Design. For her first three years at UNSW, she was concurrently the Head of School. Her time at UNSW saw Marie working closely with the Dean and Faculty Executive Director, developing strategy and running operations, as well as holding many university-level roles.
Marie has an ongoing interest in the public representation and understanding of research in art and design, particularly non-traditional research outputs. With a long record of arts advocacy, she serves as an executive member of peak bodies including the Australian Council of University Art and Design Schools (former Chair and Treasurer), and Australia’s Deans and Directors of Creative Arts (current member, former Treasurer), the latter representing all the creative arts.
She has served on the boards of management for Gertrude Contemporary Art Spaces (Deputy Chair), the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, and the City of Melbourne’s Public Art Committee (Chair) and Cultural Affairs Committee (Deputy Chair).
Marie is a practicing artist with numerous solo and group exhibitions within Australia and overseas. As her work considers the social construction of nature, she enjoys time in the bush, tending her native garden, and cycle touring.