HWS News
18 October 2017 Mischler '20 Completes Architectural Design & Fine Arts Internships
As an architectural studies and art history double major, Lucas Mischler '20 split his summer completing two internships that suited his interests in architectural design and the fine arts. Mischler spent the first half of his summer as a design and engineering intern for Penn Medicine and the second portion of his summer as a fine arts education and administrative intern at the Wayne Art Center.
As part of a highly collaborative Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) process, Mischler and all PennFIRST team members worked in a shared integration space on campus with regular interactions with Penn Medicine leadership and University Health System physicians, nurses and medical staff to ensure the patient experience is at the core of the design process. Mischler, for example, worked with engineers and architects from acclaimed firms such as Fosters + Partners to help design strategies to transport laundry throughout the building while limiting exposure to patients and visitors.
"It was great to gain exposure to the design field generally and to be working alongside prominent and experienced architectural and construction teams," says Mischler. "What I enjoyed most was gleaning an appreciation for what drives the design process in a health care setting."
During the second portion of the summer, Mischler shifted his focus to the fine arts. The Wayne Art Center, in Wayne, Pa., offers instruction for all ages in the visual arts, crafts, music, culinary arts and drama, and draws more than 1,200 children for its eight-week Summer Art Camp. Mischler coordinated the Teen Volunteer Program for the camp and assisted the Center's executive director and staff with preparing gallery exhibitions, managing the member database, conducting community outreach and participating in other arts administration efforts.
"The highlight of my internship was assisting established artists in their classroom instruction of students across a variety of visual arts mediums, including ceramics, painting and drawing," Mischler reflects. This was the third summer that Mischler was selected as one of the Center's two paid summer interns.
Also a leader in the arts and across campus at HWS, Mischler is a member of the Arts and Design Collective, Engineering Club, Centennial Center for Leaderships (CCLs) Leads Leadership Certificate Program and Orange Key. He is also a Residential Assistant and an EcoRep. For Mischler, these leadership and extra-curricular experiences, combined with the opportunity to pursue a wide range of courses from art and architectural studies to sustainability, helped enhance his internship experiences.
"In such a multifaceted project, a liberal arts education allows an individual to see concepts or ideas through a range of lenses and bring in contextual variables," says Mischler of his Penn Medicine internship. "Additionally, my experiences this summer reminded me of the importance of leadership, and my involvement with CCLs leadership programs provided a strong foundation for recognizing leadership's different forms, styles and contexts."
Mischler is an Arthur Garfield Dove Class of 1903 Studio Art & Architecture Scholar.