Announcing the 2023-2024 VRA Internship Award Recipient

The Visual Resources Association (VRA) is pleased to announce the 2023-2024 VRA Internship Award in visual resources and image management. This award was generously funded by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation. Marco Lanier, a graduate student at Simmons University in Boston, Massachusetts, is the recipient of the 11th Internship Award. He will receive $3,000 to work a minimum of 200 hours at The History Project, which is a volunteer-driven organization that maintains one of the largest independent LGBTQ+ archives in the nation.

Through his internship, Marco will digitize a selection of visual resources from The History Project's collection of Gay Community News (GCN), which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and make the selection accessible through the archives' digital collections platform. GCN is an influential Boston-based newspaper that reported on LGBTQ+ life and issues across the US. As part of the newspaper's 50th anniversary, The History Project is organizing a series of panel discussions about GCN in collaboration with the Massachusetts Historical Society. Digitizing and ensuring access to these materials will be of considerable value to the public and enhance the impact of The History Project’s public programming, education, and outreach efforts.  

The VRA is pleased to support the education and practical training of emerging professionals through this internship award. The Internship Award Committee (Linda Callahan, Liz Gadelha, and Sagan Thacker, our previous awardee) appreciates the careful thought that went into every proposal. We are grateful to the Kress Foundation for its assistance and for recognizing the potential of this award to foster the next generation of visual resource professionals.