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Lizzie Zelter: Southeast Exchange
Artist Talk Presented by Lizzie Zelter
Thursday, October 22, 2026
Murals of La Jolla and the Athenaeum present Lizzie Zelter, with a special presentation of her career, process, recent projects, and 2026 mural Southeast Exchange for Murals of La Jolla. The reception begins at 6 p.m., followed by an artist talk at 6:30 p.m.
Lizzie Zelter | Photography: Annie Denton
On Thursday, October 22, 2026, Lizzie Zelter will give an artist talk at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library. Presented by Murals of La Jolla and the Athenaeum, the evening begins with a reception at 6 PM, followed by the talk at 6:30 PM. Zelter will discuss her career, recent projects, and 2026 mural, Southeast Exchange, for Murals of La Jolla.
Lizzie Zelter’s mural, Southeast Exchange, is a reimagined retail landscape brimming with visual echoes and shifting perspectives. Exploring the artist’s interest in repetition, boundaries, and illusion, Southeast Exchange depicts E & E Trading, a large discount store in Brownsville, Texas. During a grant-funded trip along the U.S.-Mexico border, Zelter noted the city’s parallels to San Diego. On the southeast-facing wall of 7540 Fay Avenue, she creates an urban collage linking opposite corners of the southern border. Drawing from the diversity and density of objects in E & E Trading, Zelter adeptly incorporates this abundant inventory into her idiosyncratic painterly language.
Southeast Exchange’s composition is based on an architectural detail Zelter noticed in the store: a series of hanging mirrored panels breaking up the store’s reflected interior into choppy segments. Her close cropping of these vertical fragments creates a concave effect, wherein the central zone of the painting portrays the deepest aisles. Stacked on cluttered shelves, recognizable merchandise and unnameable forms are painted using a range of mark-making techniques. Perpendicular to Fay Avenue, the mural reverses the conventional left-to-right read of horizontal painting by positioning an exit sign where viewers first approach the image. Through these strategies, Zelter transforms a commercial interior into an unsettled perceptual maze, inviting the viewer to navigate an environment ripe for deep looking.
Zelter’s mural marks a milestone for Murals of La Jolla, inaugurating the project’s Emerging Artist Program. The site will continue to serve as a dedicated platform for future emerging artists, providing an ongoing space for new voices in public art.
Zelter’s practice examines how human-made environments are constructed and perceived. Engaging scale and perspective, she reimagines the outside world through experiments in pattern, form, and surface. Zelter draws attention to the peculiarities of domestic, commercial, and bureaucratic spaces to investigate their social functions. Born in New York City in 1996, she received her BA in literature from Duke University in 2018 and went on to receive her MFA in visual arts from Columbia University in 2022.
Zelter is the founder and curator of Two Rooms, an artist-run gallery and project space dedicated to fostering experimentation and critical engagement across the San Diego–Tijuana binational region. Her work has been featured in fine art institutions, including solo shows at Columbia University; Sala de Espera, Tijuana BC, Mexico; and Encarte Gallery, Mexico City. Additionally, she has participated in group exhibitions at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, La Jolla, California; Quint Gallery, San Diego, California; and Jane Lombard Gallery at Untitled Art Fair, Miami, Florida. Zelter has been the recipient of grants and fellowships, including Creative Communities San Diego, Columbia University Dean’s Project Grant, and the Duke Engage Independent Grant. Zelter lives and works in San Diego and New York.
Mural Members and Makers attend FREE and will receive an email to RSVP for the lecture.
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JOAN & IRWIN JACOBS
MUSIC ROOM
Athenaeum Music & Arts Library
1008 Wall Street
La Jolla, CA 92037
LECTURE BEGINS AT 6:30 PM.
RECEPTION AT 6:00 PM.
INDIVIDUAL TICKETS:
Free for Athenaeum members, Mural Members and Makers / $20 nonmember / $5 student
Mural Members and Makers attend FREE and will receive an email to RSVP for the lecture.
Online ticket sales are subject to ticketing fees.
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The lectures will be in person at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library. There are no physical tickets for these events. Your name will be on an attendee list at the front door. Doors open at 6 p.m. for a reception, followed by a talk at 6:30 p.m. Seating is first-come; first-served. Priority seating will be given to Donor level members and above.
These events will be presented in compliance with State of California and County of San Diego health regulations as applicable at the time of each concert.
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Your reservation is not complete until you receive an email confirmation. If you do not receive a confirmation email, your tickets have not been reserved. Please check your inbox and spam/junk folder or contact us at info@ljathenaeum.org or (858) 454-5872 to ensure your booking is finalized.
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All ticket sales for Athenaeum Music & Arts Library events are final. Cancellations made within 48 hours of the scheduled event start time are not eligible for a refund, regardless of the reason for cancellation.
Guests who are unable to attend may:
Transfer their ticket to another individual, or
Request that the ticket price be converted into a tax-deductible charitable contribution to the Athenaeum, provided no goods or services (e.g., meal, entertainment) were received.
For cancellations made more than 48 hours prior to an event, please contact Anira Abreu, Program and Administrative Associate, to discuss options: aabreu@ljathenaeum.org
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