DePauw Stories

Since graduating from DePauw University in May 2020, Konrad Rula has continued his passion for photography, taught workshops, and helped stage gallery shows – most of which were right back in Greencastle, Indiana. 

As one of the 2020-21 recipients of the Efroymson Bridge-Year Fellowship, a nine-month program available to graduating seniors studying art and art history, he was able to continue his projects and develop new opportunities with the guidance of the Peeler Art Department’s faculty and staff.  

“The opportunity to return to Greencastle as an Efroymson Bridge-Year Fellow and continue working with the incredible individuals at the DePauw Peeler Arts Center has been a privilege and an absolute honor,” Rula said. 

Over the past decade, the Efroymson Family Fund’s support has transformed academic and cocurricular experiences in studio art, art history and museum studies at DePauw. The fellowship is intended to provide the fellow with time and resources to steadily develop a portfolio or body of work, in order to be a competitive candidate for master’s, doctoral or other post-graduate programs or professional opportunities. The Efroymson Family Fund’s giving and partnership significantly advance the efforts of the Department of Art and Art History to inspire and invigorate the research and practice of talented, motivated young people pursuing studies, careers and lives in the visual arts.

“In the last seven months, I’ve networked with a number of artists, attended events photographing race cars and motorcycles at the Putnam Park Road Course, assisted in online photographic and writing workshops, assisted in displaying three gallery shows at the Peeler Art Center, and assisted professor Cynthia O’Dell in her intro and advanced photography courses,” Rula said.   

He also has had the opportunity to work closely with Jerry Bates, the woodshop/studio manager and gallery preparatory, “who is a master at what he does. He has taught me many tricks of the trade when it comes to gallery work,” Rula said. “I cannot express how truly grateful I am for this opportunity, which has connected me to the professional world through an abundance of experiences. I’ve had the pleasure to instruct technical photography workshops, ample opportunities to share and speak about my work, as well as become an independent thinker and artist.”  

Rula has moved to Chicago to develop his skills in sales and marketing through freelance work for small businesses. “I am currently exploring the culinary arts with my photography and researching the fields of residential and commercial real estate,” he said. “I am unsure what I would like to pursue for graduate school at this time but my interests in art, business, communication, management and architecture lead me to believe it will be something related to one or more of these fields.”