Gretchen Burch ’04

by Drew Freeman '13

To Gretchen Burch, being an Ole means, “Being part of a totally awesome (and intelligent) family.”  Gretchen works at Sotheby’s, an internationally known auction house based in New York City.

Gretchen came to St. Olaf from Riverside, California, as a means of trying something new without leaving family too far behind.  Both of her parents are Ole graduates (class of ’72) as well as her brother (’01) along with family in the Twin Cities area.

Gretchen majored in both art history and math, which exemplifies her belief that the strength of St. Olaf College lies in the interdisciplinary thinking it encourages.  She credits St. Olaf with helping her to think out of the box now that she is in the ‘real world.’

After leaving the Hill, Gretchen’s path led her to Rutgers University to pursue a master’s degree in art history.  She also interned at a number of New York area museums including the Brooklyn Museum, the New-York Historical Society and the Dahesh Museum of Art.  She credits these experiences and achievements as very helpful in obtaining her job at Sotheby’s where she works in the American art department.

Gretchen describes her job as similar to what you might see on the television show Antiques Roadshow, except the show doesn’t show all the hours of research that goes into appraising a piece.  Occasionally, she takes phone bids for clients who cannot attend on sale day.  During her time at Sotheby’s, Gretchen has seen her office used as part of the set for the CW as they filmed Gossip Girl as well as examining and determining that a work was a reproduction.

Some of Gretchen’s favorite memories from her time as an Ole are her travels abroad to Italy, France, and Mexico.  She recalls one particular memory that stands out from the rest, however. “Perhaps one of my favorite memories is when my friends and I lived in Ellingson our freshman year. At the end of the year one of the boys’ corridors put towels underneath all the doors along the hallway and we more or less flooded the hallway with soapy water and created a slip and slide.  We eventually had to put a mattress at the end of the hallway as the boys were competing for distance and nearly slamming into the wall at the end.”

Gretchen also met her husband at St. Olaf College and the two became engaged on the cross country trails behind Rand Hall.  Gretchen says St. Olaf gives her, “a warm fuzzy feeling.”