About
Sally Promey is a Professor of American Studies and Religion & Visual Culture at Yale University, holding secondary appointments in Religious Studies and affiliations with the History of Art department. She serves as Deputy Director of the Yale Institute of Sacred Music and directs the Initiative for the Study of Material and Visual Cultures of Religion, funded by the Henry Luce Foundation. Her research focuses on visual and material expressions of American religious belief from early colonial times to the present, with special attention to sensory controversy, censorship, and the intersections of religion, sexuality, and public aesthetics.
Her scholarly contributions include award-winning works such as Painting Religion in Public and Spiritual Spectacles, which explore religious art and communal spiritual practices. Promey has received prestigious fellowships including the Guggenheim, Woodrow Wilson, and Ailsa Mellon Bruce awards. She also chairs editorial boards for Material Religion, American Art, and Winterthur Portfolio.
Her current projects include Religion in Plain View and Written on the Heart, examining contemporary religious material practices and public belief systems. Promey’s interdisciplinary work bridges art history, religious studies, and cultural anthropology, shaping debates on the materiality of faith.
