C-3PO, STAR WARS™: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK AND R2-D2, STAR WARS™: A NEW HOPE. © & ™ 2018 LUCASFILM LTD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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PHOTO VIA STARWARS.COM © 2018 & TM LUCASFILM LTD. KYLE KAO AND AMANDA JEAN CAMARILLO

arts&life

Guardian

of the Galaxy

Local native Madlyn Burkert travels
to a g
galaxy far, far away every day.

JULIE EDGAR SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

M

adlyn Burkert des
describes herself as
a “reasonable fan” of the Star Wars
franchise — and it’s
it probably
good to have a bit of emotio
emotional distance
when you’re handling the v very costumes,
lightsabers, droids, ships an
and other
ephemera that populate filmmaker
film
George
Lucas’ universe.
The Andover High Schoo
School graduate (Class
of ’01) and University of Mi
Michigan alum is
exhibiti
the collections and exhibitions
archivist for
Lucasfilm Ltd. in San Francisco.
Franc
While she
didn’t curate the exhibit now
no at the DIA —
“Star Wars and The Power o
of Costume” —

Burkert (nee Moskowitz), 35, is a guardian
of the stuff dreams are made of; so much
so, in fact, that it took weeks for her to gain
clearance from the company to talk to the
press and to share photos.
Her path to Skywalker Ranch began
in Brooklyn, where Burkert taught high
school history after graduating from
U-M. In her third year of teaching, she
started a graduate program at Long Island
University in library science, which led
to an internship and part-time job at the
Jim Henson Company in Queens. The late
Henson created the puppets that live on

L LEFT: C-3PO and R2-D2 are on display at the DIA.
TOP: Madlyn Burkert gets to handle Star Wars treasures.

82

September 6 • 2018

jn