Mission
Aljira, a Center for Contemporary Art, fosters excellence in the visual arts through exhibitions and educational programs that serve as catalysts for inclusiveness and diversity, promote cross-cultural dialog, and enable us to better understand the time in which we live. Public understanding and support of the visual arts are strengthened through collaboration and community-based educational programming. Aljira seeks out the work of emerging and under-represented artists and brings the work of more established artists to our community. Through the visual arts Aljira bridges racial, cultural and ethnic divides and enriches the lives of individuals.

Excellence and Acclaim
• In 2003, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts designated Aljira a Major Arts Institution.
• Aljira was one of ten New Jersey cultural institutions selected to receive the Governor’s Award in 2002.
• Aljira was one of only eight organizations nationwide selected to participate in the 2001 Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Capital Initiative.
• In 2001, Aljira received a major gift in the amount of $500,000 from the Prudential Foundation to seed its capital campaign.
• The New Jersey State Council designated Aljira as a Distinguished Arts Organization in 1997.
• The Community Arts Program initiated by Aljira in 1996 brought the first public artwork to downtown Orange since World War II.
• In 1993 the Federal Advisory Committee on International Exhibitions selected Aljira to organize the U.S. representation at the IV Bienal Internacional de Pintura in Cuenca, Ecuador. The project was so successful that it traveled to 10 additional countries.