CONCERTS
Jazz, Chamber, New Music & Acoustics
The 2025 soundON Festival will explore cutting-edge contemporary music from around the world. Celebrate the 30th Anniversary of San Diego New Music and the 25th Anniversary of San Diego New Music's ensemble-in-residence NOISE with all-time favorites alongside brand-new works. Enjoy three nights of concerts in two separate locations in San Diego! Our Athenaeum Jazz series concludes in January with the Alex Kautz Quartet, featuring Brazilian artist Kautz on drums, Chico Pinheiro on guitar, John Ellis on saxophone, and Hamish Smith on bass.
LECTURES
Art History, Music & Architecture Lectures
In January, Dr. Katherine Schwab will present a four-part lecture series, New Perspectives into Ancient Greek Culture. Schwab will explore hairstyles, coinage, athletics, and jewelry 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 quite familiar to us in our own lives today.
ART CLASSES & LITERARY CLASSES
Winter 2025 Session
The Winter 2025 art classes are now available for registration. Join the Learn Adventures in Drawing: Exploring Portraiture with Jean Krumbein or discover Quick-Sketch Life Drawing (Drawing for Animation) with Marty Davis in the La Jolla Studio. Explore Gelli Printing and Beyond with Robin Roberts in the AAC Art Studio. Begin It’s Personal: Seeing Your Photographs / Finding Your Creative Voice with Suda House online via Zoom. Join the School of the Arts Book Club with Anna DiMartino in the Elliott North Reading 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
Carlos Castro Arias will exhibit his newest project, The Splinter in the Eye, an installation composed of paintings and objects in which the artist reflects about memory, trauma, and elements of the individual and collective identity.
Carlos Castro Arias is a Colombian artist, professor, and musician. He received a BA from the Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano, Bogota in 2002 and was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship in 2008 to the San Francisco Art Institute, where he received an MFA in painting in 2010. Castro Arias has been an associate professor at San Diego State University since 2019.
The show will be on display in the Joseph Clayes III Gallery and the Carolyn Yorston-Wellcome Rotunda Gallery from October 19, 2024 through January 11, 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!
