1. Photo:Laurie Tennent
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Source: Downtown Newsmagazine | Birmingham/Bloomfield/Rochester
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Madelyn Rzadkowolski
by Kevin Elliott
December 01, 2016
Living in the past doesn't mean rejecting the present. For Madelyn Rzadkowolski,
director of curatorial services for Meadow Brook Hall, it means bringing to life the people
and places that helped to form the fabric of modern society.
"I think it's important for people to know that our ancestors were the same as us. They
had a sense of humor. They felt love and tragedy," she said. "It's important for people to
be able to connect with these people in our past, and to understand how things were
done and made, and that genius has always survived. They have helped us get where
we are today."
Built between 1926 and 1929 by Matilda Dodge Wilson, widow of auto pioneer John
Dodge, and her second husband, Alfred Wilson, the 110­room, 88,000­square­foot
mansion serves as a preeminent example of Tudor revival architecture in the country. As
such, Meadow Brook Hall's collections include original paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings, furniture, ceramics, carpets, costumes
and other textiles.
"My main goal is to have people come to Meadow Brook and have them walk away with more of an understanding of the estate, its
history and connection to the community, more than have them say, 'that was a pretty house,'" Rzadkowolski said. "Our mission
includes entertaining and educating."
Starting as a volunteer, Rzadkowolski came to Meadow Brook with a passion for history, but without much knowledge of the estate
and collections. Soon she was supervising a team of volunteers to re­house hundreds of Matilda Dodge Wilson's clothing and
costumes. The vintage clothing, she said, is her favorite collection at the hall.
"I have a vintage clothes collection," she said, noting that she wore a dress made by her great­grandmother in the 1930's for her
photo with Downtown Publications. "I have a whole closet of vintage clothes. I have always been interested in them. I wear them
when I am doing events at Meadow Brook."
Her interest in fashion doesn't mean she's afraid to get her hands dirty, literally. After graduating magna cum laude with a degree in
art history from Hope College, Rzadkowolski volunteered in the art world while working at an oil change shop and a pet store. She
started working at Meadow Brook Hall in 2009, working her way up to the hall's programs coordinator, curator, and her current
appointment this summer as director of curatorial services.
"Before, I reported to someone for everything for exhibits and collections care," she said. "Now, I can't do everything I want to do, but
I make more decisions on how to manage things."
In 2011, Rzadkowolski and the former Meadow Brook curator collaborated to write "Images of America: Rochester and Rochester
Hills," a photo history of the two communities. Today, Rzadkowolski's interest of history extends to the city of Detroit, where she
sometimes conducts research and helps to give tours.
Back at Meadow Brook, she is working to restore some of the rooms and collections to their original settings.
"We are working on bringing the home back to what it looked like in 1929," she said.
That means scouring through old invoices and photographs to lay out rooms and their belongings the way they were when the
estate was in use as a home. It also means using photos to reproduce original artwork that has been sold and isn't available.
"It's about giving the house the same magnificence that you would have seen if you came here then," she said.