Maya Burdick: On Her Terms

By: Ryan Elmore (26’), Editor-in-Chief

Earlier in the semester, when Albright AM reached out to different department heads to inquire about seniors to profile for senior spotlights, we received many names. The one name that came up considerably more than most was Maya Burdick. One department head said this was because she’s written and illustrated three children’s books over the last two years and will be receiving a gallery exhibiton. Another said she “made full use of [her] freedom here to explore the interdisciplinary nature of [her] artistic gifts.”

Burdick is an extremely accomplished student at Albright and over the past four years she’s tapped into her artistic talents in bold and varied ways. In addition to the three children’s books she’s created, Burdick has produced and sold digital and physical artworks, performed as a standout vocalist in choral and opera settings, performed on-stage in educational and professional theaters, and currently acts as the head of layout and design and social media chair of this magazine.

Creative from a young age, she recalls her first experiences making art as a child. “When I was little, I was always drawing andmpainting,” she said sitting behind the desk in the Freedman Gallery – the Albright art gallery where she works part-time. “I wanted to be an author. I would always write one paragraph and design the cover for hours, and then the document would never get touched again.”

Her parents and teachers took note of her talents early on and encouraged her development “I was never shielded from the arts. It’s been something that was welcomed.” She believes the support and encouragement was instrumental to her development.

When later she developed an infatuation for performing as well, she was sure she wanted a career in the arts. After coming to Albright and receiving scholarships based off her artistic promise, her passions were invigorated further. Now, as a digital studio art major and theatre minor, she’s happy to let her passions coalesce.

“I think Albright has made it easy for me to get excited about my art,” Burdick said.

What she appreciates most about her Albright education is her ability to create on her own terms. “You can always come to a professor and say, I’m really passionate about this project, I want to work further on it. I found it liberating being able to mold the curriculum to myself.”

With this mindset, Burdick was able to produce work that she was passionate about. Her first book, Have You Seen My Hat?, was largely inspired by her own childhood.

“I wanted to write a story that was reminiscent of the books I had read as a child; the ones that comforted me and had that kind of classic illustration look.”

Inspired by creatives like John Tenniel and Beatrix Potter, Burdick infused ele ments of her own life into the story. The main character and her titular red hat were inspired by Bur dick’s own childhood self and adorable little hat. As was the story’s dog Chester in spired by her real-life dog Phineas.

Her second book, she undertook as an ACRE. Titled “Visual Theories and Methodologies in Children’s Book Illustration,” she studied children’s books as well as theorists like Perry Nodelman and Roland Barthes to analyze concepts like color theory, visual rhetoric, and semiotics.

“[I studied] the way texts and images interact [and saw] how readers engage with them – How it makes them think, how it informs their views of the world and themselves. It was interesting to learn ways people tend to interact with images.” Her research resulted in Pumpkin – a story about a neighborhood cat.

With her third book, Anywhere A Cat Can Go, Burdick wanted to make a didactic piece that could be educational while still entertaining. Through another animal protagonist, Burdick teaches children about prepositions in her cat’s adventures.

She’s gained exposure from these books within the Greater Reading community. Self-published, she’s been able to sell her books directly to her audience. She’s also been able to leverage one talent to sell another. Earlier this year, audiences who came out to see Hänsel and , the Berks Opera production made up of Albright vocal performance co-majors, were able to buy copies of Burdick’s books in a pop-up shop in the lobby. This is after, of course, seeing Burdick herself play Gretel.

She did something similar when she starred as Little Red in Little Red’s MostUnusualDay, another children’s opera produced by Yocum Institute.

She’ll receive her own gallery exhibit in the Freedman Gallery from

April 11 – May 11 called Maya Burdick: Tales in Illustration. The exhibit will showcase the work she’s created for young audiences in her books.

In addition to her work as a visual artist, Burdick is an accomplished performer. Throughout her time in college, she’s worked in various styles in different productions. Whether it be opera singing or Shakespearean performance, Burdick is unafraid to stretch herself. Later this spring, she’ll be performing as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet at Ephrata Performing Arts Center from May 15 - 31.

After college, Burdick hopes to get a job working in digital design. She intends to keep performing as well, as maintaining both all facets of her creativity, she believes, helps to inform and bolster the others.

Her advisor and mentor Heidi Mau said of Burdick, “In seeing her artwork and performances it all seems so effortless, but as her instructor and in working on an ACRE together I’ve seen the level of commitment, work, and sheer hours Maya puts into these efforts. We all want to learn her time-management secrets.”

Ultimately, the thing that motivates Burdick most is freedom through her own expression “I always like the process more than the finished product... it’s almost therapeutic, it makes me calm. It feels a lot like rediscovery.”