In 2004, Danielle Burns traveled to the University of Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania to study East African and contemporary art.
That was the beginning of something great.
Burns came to St. Louis last year to be the Romare Bearden fellow at the Saint Louis Art Museum.
“It’s known as the fellowship to have if you’re going into African or African-American art history,” said Burns, who aspires to be a museum director.
The post-graduate fellowship, named after the classic African-American artist, was designed to prepare minorities for museum work.
Originally conceived and funded in 1991 by local philanthropists Dan and Adelaide Schlafly, it gives graduate students and beginning professionals an opportunity to gain museum experience through a yearlong paid position.
The diversity initiative begets diversity in that fellows work with various departments and staff to develop materials aimed at increasing the diversity of the museum’s programs and audiences.
Most fellows go on to lead very successful careers in art.
Burns won the fellowship while completing her master’s degree in art history from CUNY Brooklyn College.
Described by her supervisor Renee Franklin as a “people person,” Burns already had quite an impressive resume before she got here.
“She is very flexible,” said Franklin, director of community partnerships. “She thinks out of the box, and she has a real drive to learn and be the professional within the museum field.”
Burns received her undergraduate degree in history and political science from Prairie View A&M University. It was her work as a special events coordinator and assistant curator at the University Museum at Texas Southern University that fully blossomed her love for art history.
She has worked in many capacities in her young career, including guest curator at Rutherford B. Yates Museum and intern at the Allen Shepard Gallery.
Before her fellowship ends in July, Burns gave the American her take on life as a Romare Bearden Fellow and as an aspiring curator in a field that has less than 100 black curators nationally.
How did you hear about the Romare Bearden Fellowship?
In New York, Renee Franklin, who works here at the Saint Louis Art Museum, was on a panel and she talked about the Romare Bearden Fellowship and the opportunity to study. I did more research on the fellowship and found out what the prior fellows were doing now. Everyone has gone on to do really great things. I felt like it was an opportunity of a lifetime, and I won.
What do you do as a fellow?
I have several different projects in different departments. I definitely do projects in Curatorial, whether it be writing label text, helping with their exhibitions, grant writing, fundraising or marketing.
Why did you choose art history as a profession?
I’ve always had a love for art going all the way back to high school. For my high school Senior Skip Day, I took a group of people to the museum. How random is that! So I’ve always loved it, but didn’t really know about it because it was the road less traveled. Art was considered a hobby; it wasn’t a career. I actually thought I was going to be a lawyer but it just wasn’t a good fit for me.
Why modern and contemporary African-American art?
My parents collected art, and that’s what I was always drawn to as a kid. It’s just the connection. It’s so cliché to say, but a picture tells a thousand words.
What are some things that you have learned at the museum?
Explaining art to children and to people who don’t really know about art has helped me a lot. I teach fourth-graders, but before this my audience has always been adults. Often times, in art we have our own little language and it can be intimidating to people who don’t really know about art. So learning to put it on a level that everyone can understand has been tremendous.
What’s next for you after your fellowship ends at SLAM in July?
I’m going back to Houston to work as a consultant curator for the African American Library at Gregory School. One of the reasons that they were impressed with me was because I was a Romare Bearden Fellow.
I’ve been gone from home for three years and it’s been great, but Houston has a lively art scene. We’ve got three great African-American curators and we have a great African-American cultural center opening and an African-American library research center opening, so it’s a really great place to continue working.
Do you have any advice for young African Americans who want to follow in your footsteps one day?
Just be honest with yourself if this is what you want to do. Take the road less traveled, because if you’re positive about it then you will be successful. Money comes when you’re passionate about something.
Danielle Burns,
Romare Bearden Fellow at Saint Louis Art Museum
Profession: Art Historian, Curator
Specialty: Modern & Contemporary African American art
Hometown: Houston, Texas
Age: 32
For more information visit www.slam.org.
