Thursday, March 27, 2025
7:30 PM

Southern California’s outrageous and fun art scene exploded in the postwar years parallel with California’s wine-world arrival. Join us for a dive into the era when Southern California art and wine became oh so cool.

Thursday, March 20, 2025
7:30 PM

Light and love are served up in the art and wines of Southern France. Rounded and golden, soft and opulent—are we talking about wines from Provence or Impressionist art? We will explore this rewarding land and its culture.

Thursday, March 13, 2025
7:30 PM

Savor the Eternal City’s history and culture paired with Italian wines. We hear tales of good and evil set among Rome’s monuments, fountains, aqueducts, and sculpture—heroes and villains paired with vino Italiano.

Thursday, June 27, 2024
7:30 PM

Bringing innovative research, fresh perspective, and dynamic challenges to the historical status quo, musicologist Dr. Charissa Noble presents her original research this summer at the Athenaeum in a special lecture series, On the Edge: Radical Art and Music Scenes of Early 20th Century California.

Thursday, June 20, 2024
7:30 PM

Bringing innovative research, fresh perspective, and dynamic challenges to the historical status quo, musicologist Dr. Charissa Noble presents her original research this summer at the Athenaeum in a special lecture series, On the Edge: Radical Art and Music Scenes of Early 20th Century California.

Thursday, June 13, 2024
7:30 PM

Bringing innovative research, fresh perspective, and dynamic challenges to the historical status quo, musicologist Dr. Charissa Noble presents her original research this summer at the Athenaeum in a special lecture series, On the Edge: Radical Art and Music Scenes of Early 20th Century California.

Sunday, January 21, 2024
2–4 PM

Join the Athenaeum’s School of the Arts on January 21, at 2 p.m. to celebrate the publication of Ken Goldman’s book Essential Human Anatomy for Artists. Ken is a legendary artist and instructor, having taught at the Athenaeum School of the Arts since 1986. His publisher, Quarto Books, has partially sponsored large-scale reproductions of three of Ken’s paintings of Stephanie Goldman’s studio classes. They are on display in the School’s Girard Avenue storefront windows in honor of the book release. Take a look when you can. We hope to see you on January 21. (Note: the lecture was previously scheduled for December 7.)

Thursday, September 21, 2023
Reception at 5:30 PM; Lecture at 6:30 PM

Please join us for an artist’s talk by Kim MacConnel, an internationally renowned artist who lives and works in San Diego.  As a seminal figure in the Pattern and Decoration movement of the 1970s, he created a unique visual language, drawing inspiration from wide-ranging and multicultural sources such as textile arts, found graphic images, and Henri Matisse. MacConnel was born in 1946 in Oklahoma City. He received his BFA and MFA from the University of California, San Diego, and taught in various capacities in the UCSD Visual Arts Department between 1975 and 1980 and as a professor of art from 1987 until his retirement in 2009. His fun and playful style incorporates bright color and creative patterning and design, and he is known for painting on unconventional materials, including fabric and bed sheets.

Saturday, September 9, 2023
6 PM

The Athenaeum is pleased to welcome Anna O’Cain for a special presentation of her career, process, recent projects, and AAC exhibition There’s Never Just One/Nunca hay sólo uno. The lecture begins at 6 p.m.

Tuesday, August 1, 2023
Reception at 5 PM; Lecture at 6 PM

The Athenaeum is pleased to welcome Monique van Genderen for a special presentation of her career, process, recent projects, and 2020 mural Paintings Are People Too for Murals of La Jolla. The reception begins at 5 p.m., followed by a 6 p.m. lecture.

Thursday, July 20, 2023
7:30 PM

Join us at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library in La Jolla for an evening with Dr. Mark Hargreaves and Hallie Swenson as they discuss The Distinct Modernism of San Diego. When it comes to California Modernism attention is inevitably focused on Palm Springs, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. This means that San Diego is often overlooked.

Tuesday, May 2, 2023
RECEPTION 5 PM, LECTURE 6 PM

Join us for an evening with Marcos Ramírez ERRE. The artist will discuss his career, process, and recent projects, as well as his newest mural for Murals of La Jolla. The reception begins at 5 PM.

Thursday, March 30, 2023
5:30 PM

On March 30, we welcome a new lecturer, Christopher Carlsmith, to the Athenaeum. Carlsmith will discuss his book Save Venice Inc.: American Philanthropy and Art Conservation in Italy, 1966–2021. Carlsmith tells the fascinating story of Save Venice Inc., from its origins to its 50th anniversary. Its story begins in 1966,when the most destructive flood in the history of Venice temporarily submerged the city and threatened its extraordinary art and architecture. Among the organizations that mobilized to protect this fragile heritage was Save Venice Inc. Founded in Boston and now headquartered in New York City, this nonprofit has become the largest and most active committee dedicated to preserving the artistic legacy of Venice.

Artist Walk-through: Saturday, January 14, 5:30 PM (during the Barrio Art Crawl)

November 12, 2022–January 28, 2023

Sibyl Rubottom presents a visual memoir of her work from the last six decades, blending exploration with inspiration and comprising a variety of mediums: paintings, etchings, prints, artist books, collages, and soft sculpture.

Tuesday, January 10, 2023
5:30 PM

Please join us for an evening with Einar and Jamex de la Torre. They will discuss their new mural, Hedonic Treadmill, recently created for Murals of La Jolla. In addition, they will share recent and future projects, as well as their process and philosophy. A reception with the artists will follow their lecture. 

Tuesday, December 13, 2022
6:30 PM

Tatiana Ortiz-Rubio will present a special lecture giving an in-depth look into the concepts and process behind her most recent body of work: Light Cones. "My work throughout the last six years has centered around the inquiry of time," she describes. "In this work, I delve into the contradictory concepts of time we have today, the scientific time defined in special relativity and the human psychological experience of time." Touching on literary and scientific inspirations, Ortiz-Rubio will answer questions related to the themes present in the exhibition, and provide context for how her recent body of work fits into her larger artistic trajectory.

Thursday, March 10, 2022

6:00 PM | Tasende Gallery Walk-through*

7:30 PM | Lecture at the Athenaeum

José Luis Cuevas was a Mexican artist affiliated with the post-World War II movement the Generación de la Ruptura (Breakaway Generation). Cuevas and the other members of the Generación opposed Mexican muralists, such as Diego Rivera, José Clement Orozco, and David Alfaro Sisquieros, who were seen as inhibiting artistic development and being overly deferential to the Mexican government.

Wednesday, February 16, 2022
7:30 PM

San Diego has a unique collection of sacred architecture with buildings by luminaries such as Irving Gill, Albert Frey, Richard Neutra, William Krisel, Robert Quigley, and Charles Moore. The lecture will examine this rich heritage and highlight some overlooked architectural gems. These significant buildings provide wonderful examples of the major architectural movements of the twentieth century.

Tuesday, October 12, 2021
6:30 PM

Join art and music historian Victoria Martino on September 14, the 700th anniversary of Dante’s death, as she begins a five-week celebration of the poet’s power of inspiration, ranging from medieval to modern times.

Tuesday, October 5, 2021
6:30 PM

Join art and music historian Victoria Martino on September 14, the 700th anniversary of Dante’s death, as she begins a five-week celebration of the poet’s power of inspiration, ranging from medieval to modern times.

Tuesday, September 28, 2021
6:30 PM

Join art and music historian Victoria Martino on September 14, the 700th anniversary of Dante’s death, as she begins a five-week celebration of the poet’s power of inspiration, ranging from medieval to modern times.

Tuesday, September 21, 2021
6:30 PM

Join art and music historian Victoria Martino on September 14, the 700th anniversary of Dante’s death, as she begins a five-week celebration of the poet’s power of inspiration, ranging from medieval to modern times.

Tuesday, September 14, 2021
6:30 PM

Join art and music historian Victoria Martino on September 14, the 700th anniversary of Dante’s death, as she begins a five-week celebration of the poet’s power of inspiration, ranging from medieval to modern times.

ONLINE VICTORIA MARTINO LECTURE-CONCERT

On the occasion of the 300th anniversary of J.S. Bachʼs composition of his Six Sonatas and Partitas for unaccompanied violin in 1720, Baroque violinist and scholar Victoria Martino will provide the audience with a unique opportunity to hear these celebrated masterpieces of the violin repertoire performed from Bachʼs autograph manuscript on an original period instrument. She will intersperse her performance with lively commentary about Bachʼs life, circumstances, and ideas, as well as remarks and explanations about the specific musical structure and form of the individual pieces.

More info / Get tickets →

ONLINE VICTORIA MARTINO LECTURE-CONCERT

On the occasion of the 300th anniversary of J.S. Bachʼs composition of his Six Sonatas and Partitas for unaccompanied violin in 1720, Baroque violinist and scholar Victoria Martino will provide the audience with a unique opportunity to hear these celebrated masterpieces of the violin repertoire performed from Bachʼs autograph manuscript on an original period instrument. She will intersperse her performance with lively commentary about Bachʼs life, circumstances, and ideas, as well as remarks and explanations about the specific musical structure and form of the individual pieces.

More info / Get tickets →

ONLINE

Join Victoria Martino on December 16, in a celebration of Beethoven’s actual 250th birthday with what she calls “a Spectacular Sensory Spectacle of Sight and Sound!” With an excellent academic and performance background, Martino will draw upon her unique and extensive expertise in music, art, literature, and history to combine all the arts to transport the audience viscerally into the life and times of Beethoven. The Wednesday evening event will be a synchronization of musical and visual material and include dramatic readings from Beethoven’s correspondence.

More info / Get tickets →