A graduate of Kent State University and the Cleveland Institute of Art, Alberta Cifolelli painted prolifically in the 1960s while raising three boys and teaching at the Laurel School in Shaker Heights and the Cleveland Institute. In 1970, she moved to Westport, where her career flourished, leading to her inclusion in the “4 Centuries of Women” exhibit, sponsored by the National Museum of Women, which toured the U.S. and Japan in the 1990s; her painting "Cleavage" is part of the museum’s permanent collection. Recognized for her contributions to art, she was honored by the Cleveland Institute of Art as one of 18 Distinguished Alumni in 2017 and received the Charles Burchfield Award in 2018. In 2016, she reflected on her artistic journey, noting that her work is “intensely personal” and has evolved over six decades driven by an inner need for development rather than dictated by fashion.