Athenaeum Music & Arts Library

Athenaeum Music & Arts Library Nonprofit music & arts library with exhibitions, concerts, artist talks, lectures, and art classes. It truly is a feast.

The Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, located in the heart of La Jolla, California, in San Diego County, is one of only 16 nonprofit membership libraries in the United States. This rare cultural institution, an important one to the greater San Diego area, offers a depth and accessibility of resources and programs found nowhere else in the region. The library, devoted exclusively to music and art, ha

s an outstanding and ever-expanding collection of books, periodicals, reference material, compact discs, videocassettes, DVDs, sheet music, and librettos, as well as one of the most significant collections of artists' books in Southern California. The library is open to the public five days a week; members can check out materials for a modest annual fee. The Athenaeum also presents an eclectic, year-round schedule of art exhibitions, concerts (classical, jazz, and new music), lectures, studio art classes through its School of the Arts, tours and special events. We invite you to browse through these pages, learn more about us, and participate in our activities. To quote the San Diego Union-Tribune, "There are few libraries in America as unusual as the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library."

08/30/2026

🔊Volume up!

Sights and sounds from AAC’s opening exhibition of 𝓔𝓼𝓼 𝓦𝓱𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓵𝓮𝔂: 𝓵𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓶𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓲𝓪𝓵𝓼.

🏛 On view: August 29–October 17, 2026

📍 Athenaeum Art Center, 1955 Julian Avenue, San Diego, CA 92113

Free and open to the public.

🎬 Flicks on the Bricks Summer 2026 Series: It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)Join us for the last 20th annual Flicks on the Br...
08/27/2026

🎬 Flicks on the Bricks Summer 2026 Series: It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)

Join us for the last 20th annual Flicks on the Bricks of the summer with Frank Capra’s beloved holiday classic, It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), starring James Stewart, Donna Reed, and Lionel Barrymore.

About the film: George Bailey, a small-town businessman facing a personal crisis, is shown what life in his community might have been like had he never been born. A timeless story about hope, friendship, and the impact one person can have on others.

🗓 Thursday, August 27, 7:30 PM
📍 Athenaeum Music & Arts Library
1008 Wall Street, La Jolla, CA 92037

🍿 Popcorn included with your ticket! Enjoy beverages for purchase, plus weekly trivia and prizes.

🎟️ TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE: ljathenaeum.org/flicks [link in bio]

The Athenaeum’s Quarterly Book Sale is back! 📚🎶Find a gift for a friend or something for yourself at our quarterly sale ...
08/27/2026

The Athenaeum’s Quarterly Book Sale is back! 📚🎶

Find a gift for a friend or something for yourself at our quarterly sale on the Athenaeum patio. Browse a large selection of gently used books, CDs, vinyl LPs, and sheet music. Hundreds of classical, jazz, and popular music recordings are just $1 per disc, making this a music lover’s paradise. Come browse, discover something new, and take home a great find!

🗓Saturday, September 12, 10 AM–4 PM
📍 Athenaeum Music & Arts Library
1008 Wall Street, La Jolla, CA 92037

08/27/2026

👀🎧Take a peak at AAC’s latest exhibition, 𝓔𝓼𝓼 𝓦𝓱𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓵𝓮𝔂: 𝓵𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓶𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓲𝓪𝓵𝓼, but you have to listen in person!

Step inside the gallery and experience an immersive collection of sound devices and objects that invite you to interact, explore, and listen.

👂We’re keeping the sound off this reel so you can hear it for yourself.

📍 Athenaeum Art Center, 1955 Julian Avenue, San Diego, CA 92113
🕛 Opening reception: Saturday, August 29, 5:00–8:00 PM
🏛 Exhibition on view: August 29–October 17, 2026

Free and open to the public.

🎉 The Athenaeum Art Center turns 10!For 10 years, the Athenaeum Art Center (AAC) has been a place for artists and commun...
08/26/2026

🎉 The Athenaeum Art Center turns 10!

For 10 years, the Athenaeum Art Center (AAC) has been a place for artists and community members to gather, learn, make, and share work in Logan Heights. To mark this milestone, we’re bringing the community together for Wayzgoose, a day of printmaking, art, music, food, and celebration.

A Wayzgoose is a traditional gathering of printers and printmakers celebrating the craft, community, and people behind the press.

🗓 Saturday, September 26 from 5:30-8:30 PM (see below for program times)
📍Athenaeum Art Center, 1955 Julian Avenue, San Diego, CA 92113

🖨 Print Fair: 11 AM–4 PM (FREE/RSVP required)
Shop work by 20+ local printmakers, enjoy live demonstrations, mini workshops, music, local vendors, giveaways, and more.

🕯 Anniversary Party & Secret Sale: 5:30–8:30 PM ($50 tickets includes food and one drink ticket)
Join us for an evening celebration featuring food and drinks from Alchemy—Choose Thy Poison, music, and a special SECRET art sale with work donated by more than 20 artists 🕵️‍♀️

Celebrate 10 years of the AAC and the artists and community members who have helped shape it.

🔗 RSVP and get tickets: ljathenaeum.org/aac10

🍂 Fall is calling—and it’s feeling creative! 🎨Registration is OPEN for fall classes at the Athenaeum School of the Arts....
08/20/2026

🍂 Fall is calling—and it’s feeling creative! 🎨

Registration is OPEN for fall classes at the Athenaeum School of the Arts. Whether you’re picking up a paintbrush for the first time or adding a new medium to your artistic toolkit, there’s a class for you.

🍁 Find your fall class + register: ljathenaeum.org/fall-classes

🔊NEW EXHIBITION ALERT🌀Step into a space where sound and matter come alive. 𝓔𝓼𝓼 𝓦𝓱𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓵𝓮𝔂: 𝓵𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓶𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓲𝓪𝓵𝓼 transforms ...
08/18/2026

🔊NEW EXHIBITION ALERT

🌀Step into a space where sound and matter come alive. 𝓔𝓼𝓼 𝓦𝓱𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓵𝓮𝔂: 𝓵𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓶𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓲𝓪𝓵𝓼 transforms the Athenaeum Art Center into an evolving sound environment, where speakers filled with organic and inorganic materials, fans, and harmonicas interact with the building’s acoustics, ambient sounds, and the movement of visitors.

📻Created specifically for the gallery, the installation responds to the unique acoustics, air circulation, and ambient sounds of the space. As visitors move through the gallery, the soundscape subtly shifts, making each experience unique.

Ess Whiteley is an NJ-born, West Coast-based composer and sound artist whose multidisciplinary practice explores new ways of listening and the relationships between humans, technology, and the natural world. Their work has been presented internationally and commissioned by ensembles including Alarm Will Sound and Riot Ensemble.

📍 Athenaeum Art Center, 1955 Julian Avenue, San Diego, CA 92113
🕛 Opening reception: Saturday, August 29, 5:00–8:00 PM
🏛 Exhibition on view: August 29–October 17, 2026

Free and open to the public.

📷Ess Whiteley; Photo Credit: Robbie Bui

08/17/2026

Tod Macofsky & The Gand Band understood the assignment 🎶🕺🏻💃🏻 Last week, the Athenaeum Music & Arts DANCEFLOOR was officially activated 🎶

🎬 Flicks on the Bricks Summer 2026 Series: Meet John Doe (1941)The 20th annual Flicks on the Bricks continues with Frank...
08/17/2026

🎬 Flicks on the Bricks Summer 2026 Series: Meet John Doe (1941)

The 20th annual Flicks on the Bricks continues with Frank Capra’s Oscar-nominated film, Meet John Doe (1941), starring Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, and Edward Arnold.

About the film: a disillusioned reporter invents a fictional “John Doe” who threatens to jump from a rooftop in protest of society’s injustices. When the story sparks a nationwide sensation, the reporter and a newspaper publisher turn John Doe into a populist celebrity—with unexpected consequences.

🗓Thursday, August 20, 7:30 PM
📍 Athenaeum Music & Arts Library
1008 Wall Street, La Jolla, CA 92037

🍿 Popcorn included with your ticket! Enjoy beverages for purchase, plus weekly trivia and prizes.

🎟️ Get your tickets: ljathenaeum.org/flicks

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the opening reception of the Athenaeum’s 34th Annual Juried Exhibition.Congratul...
08/12/2026

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the opening reception of the Athenaeum’s 34th Annual Juried Exhibition.

Congratulations to the 42 artists selected for this year’s exhibition, featuring 48 works from artists across the San Diego–Tijuana region. And a special thank-you to this year’s juror, internationally acclaimed artist and photographer Paul Mpagi Sepuya, for helping bring this year’s exhibition together.

Visit the exhibition through October 9 in the Joseph Clayes III and Carolyn Yorston-Wellcome Rotunda Galleries at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library in La Jolla.

📷Photo credit: Roy Porello

Address

1008 Wall Street
San Diego, CA
92037

Opening Hours

Tuesday 10am - 5:30pm
Wednesday 10am - 8:30pm
Thursday 10am - 5:30pm
Friday 10am - 5:30pm
Saturday 10am - 5:30pm

Telephone

+18584545872

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