When art historian and curator Malcolm Warner was chosen as this year’s guest juror for the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library’s 33rd annual Juried Exhibition in La Jolla, he was tasked with reviewing more than 900 submissions from 315 artists.
Warner narrowed that large pool to 29 works from 29 artists that will be displayed Saturday, July 26, to Saturday, Oct. 18, in the Athenaeum’s Joseph Clayes III and Carolyn Yorston-Wellcome Rotunda galleries.
“The best thing about being the juror is recognizing the work of the artists you include in the exhibition,” Warner said. “The worst part is having to leave so many out. It’s highly exclusive. This year only about one in 10 is getting in.”
The annual event invites a guest juror with both expertise and an outsider’s perspective to curate an exhibit of local artists’ work.
“In general, typically our jurors are looking for new talents that they may not have known of, things that stick out to them as issues or topics that artists are addressing that they see in aggregate,” said Christie Mitchell, the Athenaeum’s executive director.
“Usually a theme or issues begin to emerge that artists are exploring, and that becomes a point of interest for the jurors. That helps to shape the exhibition in some ways.”
Last year, the juror was Armando Pulido, assistant curator for special projects for The Huntington library and art museum in Los Angeles County. Mitchell described Pulido as a young, up-and-coming curator with a unique perspective.
This year, on the other hand, the England-born Warner, 72, is a curator with a long, established career.
He has been curator of European art at the San Diego Museum of Art; senior curator of paintings and sculpture at the Yale Center for British Art; executive director at the Laguna Art Museum in Laguna Beach; and senior curator and deputy director at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas.
Warner also curated exhibitions at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and the National Portrait Gallery in London, among other places.
Mitchell said she and her team select jurors they believe will have an interesting take on the local art scene and bring different perspectives to the annual exhibition.
“I’m typically pretty hands-on in our exhibitions, but the Juried Exhibition is a real chance for me to take a step back and allow someone else into our spaces and get their take on the artists that we work with often and then the artists that are new to us,” Mitchell said.
“This show will be Malcolm’s hand, Malcolm’s talent [and] Malcolm’s eyes. And we’re excited to see who he chose and just help to put it on view.”
The call for submissions went out April 1 through June 20. Artists must either work or exhibit in San Diego or Tijuana and can submit up to three works completed within the past five years.
The over 900 submissions included a wide variety of art and artists, from up-and-comers to people whom the Athenaeum has known and worked with for a long time.
With limited gallery space, Warner had the difficult job of comparing and contrasting the array of entrants. Though the number of submissions this year was similar to 2024, the number chosen is smaller than last year’s group of 52.
“It’s like comparing apples, oranges and every other fruit and vegetable you can think of,” Warner said. “I’m just looking for skills, ideas and feelings that jump out at me, trying to be open to all styles and with a view to making an interesting exhibition in the end.”
The artists chosen for the 2025 exhibition are Leila Aghdami, Angelo Aguila, Nikusha Beatty, Raymond Brownfield, Ty Caulfield, Dane Conboy, Carolina Danu, Sheeva Davari, James DeLisio, Beth Duggan, Chi Essary, Peter Fay, Ken Goldman, Josie Marlyn Gomez, Lucy Guianan-Helle, Susan Hill, Terri Hughes-Oelrich, Jinhoo Kim, Megan Knobloch Geilman, Elliott Linwood, Martha Martin, Brad Maxey, Lori Mitchell, Elizabeth Rooklidge, Amy Rosenberg, Louise Russell, Neil Shigley, Jeff Steorts and Paul Woggy.
Before the exhibit begins, a free reception from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 25, will pay homage to the event, its juror and the collection of featured artists.
The reception also will reveal prize winners, including the recipient of the Leslie Von Kolb Memorial Award.
The 33rd Juried Exhibition will be open with free admission during the Athenaeum’s normal public hours from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays at 1008 Wall St. Learn more at ljathenaeum.org/juried-exhibition. ♦