Mary-Ann was a model for several well known artists in New York including Edward Hopper, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, and Eugene Speicher.
It is estimated Burkhart painted 3,000 pieces during his 40-year-career, many of these portraits of Ohio residents whom he would pay a small fee.
In 1934, Emerson Burkhart received a commission from the WPA Federal Art Project for a mural over the auditorium at Central High School in Columbus.
[2] In 1938, Burkhart received his second commission from the WPA for ten life size murals at Stillman Hall on the Ohio State University campus and he was paid $1,209 for 13 months of work.
After several years of travel, Burkhart returned to Columbus and continued painting local residents and scenes.