The Alfred Ceramic Art Museum is pleased to announce the awarding of the Jerome Ackerman Internship for Spring Semester 2026 to Alfred University undergraduate Alex Bushnik.
Alex is a Junior in the School of Art and Design, having transferred from Manchester Community College in Connecticut. He is a passionate student of ceramics, making both figurative sculpture and functional ware, and has a particular interest in salt and soda firing. Thematically, he likes to explore ideas of technology and time, sometimes integrating electronic components into sculptural figures of animals, for example. In his functional work he is drawn to teapots for the complexity and diverse possibilities of the form.
Eventually planning on becoming a teacher, Alex believes his internship will not only give him valuable insight into the inner workings of the museum structure, but also expand his creative horizons by exposing him to so many examples of excellent work in the ACAM collection. Recognizing that working in a museum requires great care and attention to detail, Alex is confident that it will help him develop key transferrable skills that will serve him well long after he graduates.
The Jerome Ackerman Internship is a paid internship that supports the museum’s mission as an educational resource for Alfred University students. The internship offers undergraduate students from the School of Art and Design in-depth exposure to museum professional practices as well as deep insights to creative processes across history. The internship is also designed to further each intern’s professional goals while helping the museum address its multifaceted organizational needs. Each intern works directly with the museum’s Curator of Collections and Director of Research, Susan Kowalczyk.
Laura Ackerman-Shaw established the Jerome Ackerman Internship at the Alfred Ceramic Art Museum in honor of her father, Jerome “Jerry” Ackerman (MFA ’52), a designer-craftsman whose artistic collaboration with his wife, Evelyn Ackerman, was at the heart of California’s Midcentury Modernism movement. The couple established the Jenev Design Studio in West Los Angeles, and as highly visible artists participated in every edition of the influential California Design shows at the Pasadena Art Museum from 1954 to 1976.
Applications for the Ackerman Internship are accepted in person at the museum or by email. Applications must include a letter of interest, resume and two professional letters of recommendation. Applicants should have good organizational skills with strong attention to detail as well as good written and oral communication skills and proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite and Adobe Photoshop. For additional information, call the museum office at 607-871-2421.
