In the kick off to the fall College of Liberal Arts speaker series held every Thursday at noon in Tichenor Hall, Madeline Burkhardt, Auburn alumna, visited campus to discuss adult education and internships for graduate students.
Burkhardt graduated from Auburn University’s Honors College with a degree in art history and a minor in Italian. Before graduation, however, Burkhardt changed her major three times from graphic design to interior design before choosing her final destination — art history. She said the long road in her time at college was a similar experience for many of her peers.
It was the night before a crucial project was due for her graphic design class when Burkhardt realized she no longer wanted anything to do with the program. She decided to call her mother the following morning, explaining she was tired of what she was studying. After a back and forth with her mother, she quickly decided to email an art history professor who graciously let her into the class last minute.
After switching for the final time, Burkhardt hit the real world hard when finding jobs became a lot harder than she ever thought. Burkhardt had her first job to hang art exhibitions in a place next to Mama Mocha’s on Gay Street. Keeping herself local in Auburn however, she shortly discovered there was more out there to see.
Through networking, Burkhardt was able to reach out to a girl she previously knew for a job in Washington D.C. at the Phillips Collection, but the interview wasn’t for the dream job she was seeking. It was to be a security guard, which became a mental roadblock. After talking with Joyce de Vries, professor of art history at Auburn, Burkhardt knew she wouldn’t take this position.
The next day, Burkhardt had the opportunity to take another interview, this time at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts in Montgomery, Alabama. Several interviews in, she was exhausted from the process and decided to be brutally honest when she was asked why whe wanted the job.
“Honestly, I don’t know,” Burkhardt responded.
She was asked to start immediately. The following Tuesday, Burkhardt was offered a position as volunteer coordinator, a job that usually requires a master's degree.
She had finally found her home. She was able to find her mentor and figure out exactly what she wanted to do for herself.
Shortly after, Burkhardt decided to pursue her masters in August 2016 through an online program with Johns Hopkins.
She then came across a position to be the adult education and internship coordinator for the Rosa Parks Museum in Montgomery. She was nervous at first, not knowing if she was qualified enough to fill the position, but she has learned to grow comfortable in her role.
“Don’t tell yourself you’re not qualified,” Burkhardt said. "If anyone is going to tell you, let it be the hiring team that tells you."
After getting the position, Burkhardt has been able to seize opportunities to design exhibitions and create special parts of the museum with an imaginative touch, even getting the chance to work hand-in-hand with a former professor, Katherine Floyd, on an African art exhibition.
“It really feels like you have made it when you’re working beside your former professor,” Burkhardt said.
Burkhardt is involved with nine organizations in Montgomery and will be attending The University of Western England in two weeks where she was invited to speak on the topic “Challenging the Narrative of Art.”
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