August 1–October 10, 2026
Opening Reception: Friday, July 31, 5:30–7:30 PM
JOSEPH CLAYES III & CAROLYN YORSTON-WELLCOME ROTUNDA GALLERIES
34th ANNUAL JURIED EXHIBITION
One of the most prestigious juried shows in San Diego, selected artists will exhibit their work in our galleries, receive excellent exposure, and mingle with both artists and art lovers at an opening reception. Prize winners, including the recipient of the Leslie Von Kolb Memorial Award, will be announced at the opening reception. Free and open to the public.
The call for entries for the Athenaeum's 34th Annual Juried Exhibition will open April 1 through June 30, 2026. Artists may enter up to three different works for juror consideration for this exhibition, which will open July 31. Our juror this year is artist Paul Mpagi Sepuya. Entry fee per artist is $15 for members and $20 for non-members. Visit ljathenaeum.org/juried-exhibition for updates.
Paul Mpagi Sepuya is a Los Angeles-based artist working in photography and related zine and ephemera. He is known for his New York portrait series in the early 2000s, later moving into studio-based projects that question and complicate questions of authorship, the visualzation of race and sexuality, and the structures of the photographic medium. His work is international collections including the Getty, LACMA, Guggenheim, MoMA, the Whitney Museum, the Stedelijk, Tate Modern, and Victoria & Albert Museum among others. Museum surveys have been presented at CAM St. Louis and Nottingham Contemporary, and a comprehensive hybrid artist-book and monograph of the project “Dark Room A - Z,” was published by Aperture in Fall 2024. His most recent body of work has been exhibited in“TRANCE” at Bortolami Gallery in New York, the Mercosul Biennial in Porto Alegre Brazil, and “POSITIONER”at Vielmetter Los Angeles. Sepuya is an Associate Professor in Visual Arts at UC San Diego.
The exhibition can be viewed in the Joseph Clayes III and Carolyn Yorston-Wellcome Rotunda Galleries 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.
MAX & MELISSA ELLIOTT NORTH READING ROOM
Selections from the Athenaeum’s Erika & Fred Torri Artists’ Books Collection
A selection of artists’ books will be showcased in the Max & Melissa Elliott North Reading Room.
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.