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Inside the main gallery. |
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About Aljira
Our 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.
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Aljira Emerge: Professional Development for Emerging Artists. Photo: Art Paxton |
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Aljira Programming
Exhibitions
At Aljira's core is the exhibition of the work of emerging and under-represented artists. This includes the promotion of art perceived as problematic by mainstream institutions. The current exhibition space at 591 Broad Street has revitalized our ability to exhibit such work.
Professional Development
We launched Emerge, a professional development program designed to provide practical career development training for emerging artists, in 1999. Learn more about Emerge.
Education
Aljira at the Academy
Aljira inaugurated Aljira at the Academy, a satellite exhibition space with children as its primary audience, in 1998. This project is a collaboration with Sharron Miller’s Academy for the Performing Arts in Montclair, New Jersey. Since its launch, Aljira has presented professional exhibitions in a non-traditional setting, that are viewed by more than 500 children and adults weekly.
Young Curators
Young Curators is a program that uses a multidisciplinary approach to art education that incorporates art, language arts, social studies and workplace readiness. Participants in Aljira's Young Curators learn about the function and responsibilities of curators in museums and galleries. Students learn where and how the art for exhibitions is found, how exhibitions are designed within allotted gallery space, what limitations and freedoms curators have when developing exhibition concepts and installing shows, and what criteria are used for selection of work for exhibitions. They then apply this knowledge by collaborating to originate a concept for their own exhibition based upon their reactions to and analysis of a professional art exhibition.
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Aljira Design
In 1991, Aljira founded Aljira Design, a graphic design studio that generates revenue to support programming and growth of the Center. Learn more about Aljira Design. |
Architectual rendering of Aljira's new space. |
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Looking Forward
Aljira opened our renovated street-front space at 591 Broad Street in January 2003. We are excited to refocuse on our core mission of exhibiting a broad range of contemporary art.
Our expansion continues with our commitment to improving our space, expanding education programs and increasing our endowment. We are raising funds for this through our Taking it to the Street program.
Although we have succesfully completed the first phase of construction, more renovation is needed to allow us to fully realize our mission. Phase II of our Taking it to the Street program will provide funding for our remaining construction and for the expansion of our art and educational programming.
As we grow, we continue to focus on executing our Center’s mission, led by Executive Director and founder Victor L. Davson.
Aljira's History
Twenty years ago, artist Victor L. Davson and Carl E. Hazlewood envisioned Aljira, a Center for Contemporary Art as a place, which would embody the essence of its etymological roots. By selecting the name Aljira, the Australian Aboriginal word for dreamtime, the founders defined the heart of Aljira’s mission, a mission that embraces the concepts of timelessness and open possibilities—ideas inherent in the creative process.
Aljira continues to be open to possibilities and plays an integral role in the professional life of many artists. Our work began on the fourth floor of a building with no elevator, no air conditioning, and no direct access to the street. We have made progress, and our move to 591 Broad Street has positioned us to open our doors and take our campaign for contemporary art to the street.
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. |
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