Sylvia Fernández: Habitando, I Don't Belong Here, We Belong Everywhere

Exhibition Dates: October 17, 2026–January 9, 2027

Opening Reception: Friday, October 16, 5:30 PM–7:30 PM

Artist Talk: Friday, October 16, 5:30 PM

In Habitando, I Don’t Belong Here, We Belong Everywhere, artist Sylvia Fernández (b. 1978, Lima, Peru) navigates the complexity of finding home everywhere and nowhere at once. Using Spanglish as a structural tool, and the flowing nature of water and air as frameworks for thinking about transformation, migration, and belonging, Fernández materializes the experience of moving between places as a journey toward the self, where memory and feeling continually shape a place to belong.

For this exhibition in the Joseph Clayes III Gallery, Fernández expands beyond personal experience into collective awareness through two archives she has created: Archivo de Sentires (Archive of Feelings) and Archivo de Sombras (Archive of Shadows). The Archivo de Sentires draws on responses to seven questions posed to women of different ages living around the globe. These responses have been translated into paintings, with a palette drawn from every color named in the archive. The Archivo de Sombras comprises photographs of each woman’s sun-cast shadow, which act as source materials for the paintings. In the resulting works, the shadows appear as silhouettes, at times merging with Fernández’s own body to mark presence and absence.

Fernández’s adopted home of San Diego is linked by the Pacific Ocean to Lima, where she was born. San Diego’s dry terrain, waterways, shifting light, and native flora and fauna enter the paintings as fragments reimagined into new landscapes. Birds following the Pacific Flyway, from Alaska to Patagonia, appear as symbols, moving and belonging everywhere.

The exhibition design further reflects Fernández’s interest in fluidity of place and identity. Double-sided paintings hover and swirl in the gallery, inviting viewers to navigate works as they become portals for transformation and expansion.

The exhibition can be viewed in the Joseph Clayes III Gallery at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library (1008 Wall Street, La Jolla, CA 92037) during open hours, Tuesday through Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Appointments are not required.

Selections from the Athenaeum’s Erika & Fred Torri Artists’ Books Collection

Exhibition Dates: May 2–July 25, 2026

Opening Reception: Friday, May 1, 2026, 5:30–7:30 PM

A selection of artists’ books on the environment in the Athenaeum’s Erika & Fred Torri Artists’ Books Collection will be showcased in the Max & Melissa Elliott North Reading Room.

About the Athenaeum’s Erika & Fred Torri Artists’ Books Collection

The Athenaeum’s artists’ books collection was initiated in 1991 when Joan & Irwin Jacobs Executive Director Emeritus Erika Torri received a generous donation from life member Hope Shipley with the advice “to use it for her dreams.” Artists’ books have been Torri’s passion for many years prior and it seemed a natural fit for the Athenaeum. She purchased Harry Sternberg’s limited edition A Life in Woodcuts, published by Brighton Press, and thus the collection was launched. The mission of the collection was established with a focus on regional artists and presses and on artists who emphasized art and/or music in their works. The collection has grown enormously through purchases, sponsored acquisitions, and generous donations—now numbering close to 2,200 books—and so has its reputation. It is sought out by artists, researchers and collectors and can be viewed by making an appointment with library staff.

The exhibition can be viewed in the Max & Melissa Elliott North Reading Room at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library (1008 Wall Street, La Jolla, CA 92037) during open hours, Tuesday through Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Appointments are not required.

Apertura

On view October 24, 2026–January 2, 2027

Opening Reception: Saturday, October 24, 5–8 PM

APERTURA Showcase Community Event: Saturday, November 14, 12:00-4:00 PM

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

APERTURA is a collection of 14 video works produced by a group of multi-generational San Diego/Tijuana-based artists. This exhibition is the culmination of a four-day workshop led in May of 2026 by San Diego Poet Laureate Paola Capó-García and artist Víctor De La Fuente. Eight participants came together as writers to reinterpret their lines through the lens as short films. To round out the exhibition, six other local artists were invited to contribute their own interpretations of poems via video. APERTURA, which means opening, calls for a more expansive way of experiencing poetry. We invite you to dwell in the intersection of poetics and film and to celebrate the different ways poetry can converge with visual art to tell the story of a city.

Organized by San Diego Poet Laureate Paola Capó-García and Artist Victor De La Fuente

Participating Artists: DG Cunanan, Zeinabu irene Davis & Marc Arthur Chery, Cassandra Dhillon, Elyse Farwell, Marinthia Gutiérrez Velazco, Susan Hill, Lev Kalman, Dharma-Julia Leon Valdez, Jason Magabo Perez, Savannah Meraz, Alison O’Daniel, Teem Osborn, Sarita Tánori, & Michael Trigilio

The exhibition can be viewed in the Catherine and Robert Palmer Gallery at the Athenaeum Art Center (1955 Julian Avenue, San Diego, CA 92113) during open gallery hours, Tuesdays through Saturdays, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and every second Saturday from 5 to 8 p.m., during the Barrio Art Crawl, and by appointment.

La exposición se puede ver en la Galería Catherine y Robert Palmer en el Centro de Arte Athenaeum (1955 Julian Avenue, San Diego, CA 92113) durante el horario de atención de la galería, de martes a sábado, de 11 a. m. a 4 p. m., y cada segundo sábado de 5 a 8 p.m., durante el Barrio Art Crawl, y con cita previa.