The Visual Arts Program provides access and connection to the arts and culture landscape in San Diego, offering unique opportunities to local and regional artists. Featured exhibitions can be viewed at Central Library’s Judith Harris Art Gallery. Rotating exhibitions by local artists and creative groups are hosted at several library locations throughout the year. The Visual Arts Program demonstrates the library’s role as a cultural institution embracing a broad range of disciplines while assisting San Diego artists to achieve wider local, regional and national attention.

For more information about library exhibitions, email us at OnView@sandiego.gov.

Featured Exhibitions

Join us for the Opening Reception on Saturday, February 22, 2025 from 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Enjoy LIVE music curation by Itza Vilaboy and small bites sponsored by the Friends of the Central Library.

Onview February 22 – May 4, 2025

A drawing's most profound potential lies in its ability to shape how we perceive and understand the world around us. Few means of expression can rival its directness. Drawing is personal, immediate, intentional, and reveals an artist’s state of mind. 
 
The Judith Harris Art Gallery at the Central Library is pleased to present The Drawing Show, a 25^th anniversary exhibition championing skilled San Diego artists. The Visual Arts Program founder, Mark Elliot Lugo, curated the first inaugural Drawing Show which has included over 82 local artists in invitationals over the years. Lugo believed drawing is not just a skill, but an exercise in teaching the eye to “see” - a process that transcends mere observation and encourages a deeper perception.   
 
This year’s invitational features Celeste Byers, Hugo Crosthwaite, Steve Gibson, Amanda Kazemi, Neil Kendricks, Joshua Moreno, Annalise Neil, David Peña, Melanie Taylor, and Eden de la Vara—ten local artists who show us how they “see” through their exemplary mark making. From traditional figure renderings to imaginative constructs of landscape and abstraction, drawing remains a space of open experimentation, where the hand decides whether a piece is meant to convey deeper meaning or exist for mere play. Each mark sends a message—where past, present, and futures coexist. The Drawing Show invites the viewer to engage with drawing as more than just a tool or technique—it's a vital method of communication. 

OnView - Local Arts

Central Library-2^nd Floor
Homage to the Square
Erick Pérez
Dec. 10, 2024 - Feb. 4, 2025

Central Library – Popular Library Fairway
The Curious World of Seaweed
Josie Iselin
Aug. 27, 2024 - Jan. 19, 2025

La Jolla/Riford
Stories Imagined
San Diego Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators
Dec. 12, 2024 – Feb. 24, 2025

La Jolla/Riford
Remember Us The Holocaust (RUTH)
Jan. 12, 2025 – Dec. 14, 2025

Mission Valley
Submersive Beauty
Bruce Fayman
Nov. 8, 2024 - Jan. 25, 2025

Mission Valley
Palm Frond Zoo
Jane Muschenetz
Nov. 12, 2024 - Jan. 31, 2025

Otay Mesa-Nestor
James Hubbell: Architecture of Jubilation-
Lado A Lado

Pacific Beach/Taylor
Silent Skies: Endangered and Extinct Birds
Stacie Birky Greene
Jan. 14, 2025 – Mar. 28, 2025

Rancho Bernardo
Expressions in Oil
Reva Sandmeyer & Page Ginns 
Jan. 2, 2025 – Mar. 31, 2025

Rancho Peñasquitos
Vira Ustianska
Oct. 1, 2024 - Jan. 15, 2025

Various Locations | Fleet on the Go | Throughout 2024

City Heights/Weingart: Wentzscope | Oct. 16 - Jan. 24, 2025

Oak Park: NANO-Magnetic Sand Table | Oct. 16 - Jan. 24, 2025

San Ysidro: How a Telegraph Works, Color Printing | Oct. 16 - Jan. 24, 2025

Explore past exhibitions at the Central Library Art Gallery, including behind-the-scenes content and virtual tours.