MAS student awarded prestigious internship scholarship
October 28, 2008
Leana Kruska, a senior student in the IU School of Informatics at IUPUI, has been named a recipient of the Midwest Cooperative Education and Internship Association (MCEIA) Student Scholarship Award.
Kruska, a Media Arts and Science (MAS) major, spent this past summer working for the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. as an electronic imaging intern. She will receive one of two $1000 scholarships awarded by MCEIA to students who have completed a cooperative education/internship experience.
“As a non-traditional student about to complete my first degree, I have found my internships an extremely valuable asset to my collegiate and professional development,” said Kruska.
Kruska’s Smithsonian responsibilities included scanning and digitally restoring negatives and prints from the museum’s collections for use in printed and online publications. She also studied preservation techniques used by historians and curators, and how museum exhibits should be displayed.
“In my first three weeks, I worked with amazing historic photos including images shot by renowned Washington, D.C. photographer Addison Scurlock,“ explained Kruska. “These photos are for an exhibition and accompanying catalog for the National Museum of African American History and Culture.”
Kruska, who will graduate in December 2008, was privileged to work with portraiture including the likes of W.E.B. Du Bois, Billie Holiday, Fats Waller and many other prominent African Americans.
“The subject matter was fascinating and I truly enjoyed the very intricate and detailed work of preparing these images,” said Kruska.
Kruska said she especially appreciated her direct access to the wide variety of American history found at the Smithsonian.
“While watching a photo shoot, I was inches away from artifacts of the First Ladies Exhibit, including items from Mary Todd Lincoln,” Kruska recalled.
Kruska said she greatly values her relationship with the IUPUI career advisors who nominated her for the MCEIA scholarship. And, she’s no stranger to such an honor, having won a student scholarship to the Photoshop World Conference in Boston in the spring of 2007. She also works as an independent producer with WFYI Public Television in Indianapolis.
