CONCERTS
Jazz, Chamber, New Music & Acoustics
In March, the winter Jazz at the Athenaeum series continues with Allison, Cardenas & Nash, a collective trio of top New York City–based artists bassist Ben Allison, guitarist Steve Cardenas, and saxophonist Ted Nash. They weave musical conversations that are full of subtlety and surprise. The trio is modeled after reedist-composer Jimmy Giuffre’s drummer-less groups of the 1950s and 60s. Next up is a return visit by the remarkable Sullivan Fortner Trio, featuring New Orleans–native Fortner on piano, Tyrone Allen on bass, and Kayvon Gordon on drums.
LECTURES
Art History, Music & Architecture Lectures
Dr. Katherine Schwab will present an art history lecture series, New Perspectives into Ancient Greek Culture. Schwab will explore coinage, athletics, jewelry, and hairstyles to discover a deeper understanding of the people and times in Ancient Greece. She will highlight objects to consider how a society over two millennia ago thought about adornment, objects, and activities that are familiar to us in our own lives today. Also, Julian Tan will give an artist talk on his Athenaeum show, End Trances, and how it connects to his career and process.
ART CLASSES & LITERARY CLASSES
Winter 2025 Session
The Winter 2025 art classes are now available for registration. Explore Metamorphosis: A Book Arts Journey of Transformation with Victoria Rabinowe or Abstracts! Painting with Fabric, Paper, Collage & Acrylics with Susan Osborn in the La Jolla Studio. Begin Encaustics 1: Layering & Embedding with Lisa Bebi or learn Life Drawing with Jean Krumbein in the AAC Art Studio. Join the School of the Arts Book Club with Anna DiMartino in the Elliott North Reading Room. Create Handmade Cards with Judith Christensen in the AAC Print Room. Register today!
The Athenaeum offers a wealth of resources that are unique to this region. The library, devoted exclusively to music and art, has an outstanding and ever-expanding collection of books, periodicals, reference material, CDs, DVDs, sheet music, and librettos, as well as one of the most significant collections of artists' books in Southern California. Members have access to a wide variety of materials that range from rare, historic items to the latest in video technology.
Explore the concerts and lectures the Athenaeum has to offer. Enjoy intimate jazz, chamber, and new music concerts, as well as artists’ talks and art history lectures.
The Athenaeum Art Center (AAC) in Logan Heights has four exhibition spaces, an event space, a fully equipped print studio, a kiln, and art studio. It offers a unique set of bilingual programming that includes the exhibition of national and international artists, music concerts showcasing the distinct sounds of our binational region, participation in community festivities, free after-school art programs, art classes, and a variety of unique experiences in collaboration with local organizations.
Exhibitions
Julian Tan will exhibit End Trances, a body of work centered on a blinding, mysterious light in the sky and humans’ moments of wonder, panic, and solace as they witness it. In creating these paintings, Tan was thinking about recent trends including the use of AI in art making, the vastness of knowledge at our fingertips in a world dominated by instant information, public fascination with unidentified aerial phenomena, and a pervasive sense of being at the precipice of something—whether the end of the world or a cultural shift we have yet to understand as a society.
The show will be on display in the Joseph Clayes III Gallery and the Carolyn Yorston-Wellcome Rotunda Gallery from January 18 through April 19, 2025.
Murals of La Jolla is a project of the Athenaeum. The mural project enhances the civic character and vitality of the community by commissioning public art projects on private property throughout La Jolla. Each work is on view for a minimum of two years. Since 2010, thirty-seven large-scale artworks have appeared in a variety of locations throughout the village of La Jolla, some prominently displayed while others are tucked away in more discreet locations.
The Athenaeum's
Erika & Fred Torri
Artists’ Books Collection
Artists' books are works of art in book form. They are published in small editions or as one-of-a-kind objects. The Athenaeum's artists' books collection has become one of the most important collections in its holdings and is a driving force in the library's development. Among its holdings, it contains the complete collection of artists' books by Ed Ruscha, Ida Applebroog, Allen Ruppersberg, John Baldessari, Bruce Nauman, and other artists.
Join the Athenaeum
Becoming a member is the best way to enjoy everything that the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library—San Diego's only membership library—has to offer. For only $50 a year, members may check out materials from the library, receive exclusive discounts on our programs, and more! An Athenaeum Music & Arts Library membership supports art and music in San Diego.
The Athenaeum is supported by members like you!
