Isabella “Bella” Casalinova, a junior art student at Alfred University working on her BFA, has been honored with the Fall 2026 Ackerman Internship at the Alfred Ceramic Art Museum.
Isabella is an enthusiastic young woman with a passion for museum work. As an art students at Alfred University, she is specializing in painting, along with minors in both Art History and Museum and Gallery Practices. She loves figurative painting (particularly the work of Mary Cassatt) but is also interested in ceramics.
A resident of Vermont, she earlier served as a curatorial/registrar intern at the Southern Vermont Arts Center, which gave her a taste of collections management.
She enjoyed the hands-on aspect of working behind the scenes and loves the special care museums give to the objects in their collections, the condition reports, the cataloging, and the careful organization of each object into its own unique place. She will likely pursue a career in the world of museums and galleries after receiving her BFA.
The Jerome Ackerman Internship is a paid internship that supports the Alfred Ceramic Art 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.
