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Note: Though this class is offered as part of the Novel Writing Certificate Program, there is no pre-requisite to join this class. All students, members, and nonmembers are encouraged to enroll. Plotting the Novel: While your characters are the beating heart of your novel, your plot is its bones. Whether you are an outliner or someone who works on the fly, this basic architecture (the novel’s skeleton, so to speak) cannot be neglected. In this six-week workshop, we will work on understanding the essential plot requirements of a good story, and work on building a good strong supporting structure for your novel. ADDITIONAL NOTES: Please note that there’s no class on July 4, 2026. Please also note that you will receive your Zoom link via email 24 hours before the start of this class. San Diego Writers, Ink on Facebook / Instagram

Dr. Diane Kane will describe how new materials and computer aided drafting (CAD) have enabled construction of unusual, weird and wonderful structures in sometimes unbelievable locations. Lecture will also be available on Zoom. Contact bheckler@san.rr.com for Zoom link. Visit: https://sdscholars.org/

Gehry transformed modern architecture with exuberant buildings such as the Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Guggenheim Museum. "I've always been for optimism and architecture not being sad," he said.

Composer and sound artist Sam Dunscombe surrounds audiences in an acousmonium–an immersive “loudspeaker orchestra” of more than two dozen custom-positioned speakers. First developed in the 1970s by the Groupe de Recherches Musicales in Paris, the acousmonium was designed to project electroacoustic music in space—treating each speaker as an individual voice in a vast sonic field. Dunscombe’s hand-built system transforms the room into a living architecture of sound, where tones move, swirl, and morph depending on where you stand. The program features spectral soundscapes and textural explorations that invite audiences to walk, turn, and listen from multiple perspectives, making each seat a unique vantage point. It’s a rare opportunity to experience sound not just as music, but as a three-dimensional environment you can inhabit. Visit: https://www.projectblanksd.org/salty-series-2026 Sam Dunscombe on Instagram

Join the Ilan-Lael Foundation for their Pacific Rim Park Picnic on November 22 at Shelter Island Park from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. This free event allows guests to participate in workshops as they reflect on the communities that came together for the Pacific Rim project. There will be free art stations onsite allowing guests to experiment with art and reflect on our coastal home. One of the workshops with clay gives guests a hands-on look at an upcoming exhibit at Oceanside Museum of Art. Shelter Island is home to a public art piece created by the late artist James Hubbell, alongside students from around the globe. The “Pearl of the Pacific” highlights how art and architecture can transcend cultural divides, inspire dialogue, and serve as tools of diplomacy, especially a timely message in a world marked by increasing polarization. Through the Ilan-Lael Foundation, his vision lives on in annual peace walks and ongoing Art Diplomacy initiatives, including the creation of new peace parks worldwide. In spirit of bringing the community together, the picnic will be potluck style. Each guest is encouraged to bring a dish inspired by the diverse countries around the Pacific Rim and can sign up online. Parking at the event is first come first serve and the foundation encourages guests to carpool.

After decades of planning and setbacks, South Bay officials are laying the groundwork for a multi-university campus that houses academic programs from schools across the San Diego-Tijuana metro.

Itamar “Ita” Lilienthal is an emerging biodesigner and architect developing sustainable material alternatives — and he thinks he may have found something big.

Opening Reception | Nolan Oswald Dennis: "Demonstrations (i)": Presented with INSITE Athenaeum Music & Arts Library 1008 Wall Street La Jolla, CA 92037 October 25, 2025–January 17, 2026 Opening Reception: Friday, October 24, 5:30–8 p.m. Conversation with Nolan Oswald Dennis and critic KJ Abudu: 5:30–6:15 p.m. Joseph Clayes III & Carolyn Yorston-Wellcome Rotunda Galleries Nolan Oswald Dennis: "Demonstrations (i)" Presented with INSITE INSITE is pleased to announce Nolan Oswald Dennis: "Demonstrations (i)," opening at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library in La Jolla, California, this October. Nolan Oswald Dennis (b. 1988, Lusaka, Zambia) is an artist based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Informed by the study of geological and planetary systems—and situated within African and diasporic relations to the land, cosmos, and anti-colonial political structures—Dennis’s work approaches the world as it is while mapping possibilities for transforming it. "Demonstrations (i)" marks the West Coast premiere of Isivivane, an ongoing project by Dennis that replicates rock specimens from geology museums and university departments in South Africa and parts of the world where the work has been shown. Originally commissioned for INSITE Commonplaces in Johannesburg in 2021, this project has since traveled to the Kunstinstituut Melly in Rotterdam, Netherlands; the Swiss Institute in New York; and Gasworks in London. Isivivane is a Zulu word which translates to a "pile of stones,” similar to a cairn, which marks a spiritually or historically significant site. Isivivane also means to make an individual contribution to a collective future. Manufactured daily by a 3D-printer on site, the new rocks become part of what the artist calls a Black Earth Library. This is an effort that has arisen from discussions with geologists and geology museum curators concerning restitution and repatriation of culturally significant objects. In asking the host institution to create digital and physical copies of more or less significant rocks, stones, and other small geological objects, Dennis suggests a geo-social system not built by a single person, but by many over time. Isivivane will be accompanied by related sculptures and drawings, and displays of rocks and minerals selected by the artist from local collections. "Demonstrations (i)" opens to the public at the Athenaeum with a reception on Friday, October 24, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. The closing of the exhibition on January 17 will be celebrated with the presentation of INSITE Journal__08: Reverse Forward and All at Once. The publication comprises documentation and essays related to the INSITE "Commonplaces" project curated by Gabi Ngcobo in Johannesburg, with commissioned work by participating artists Nyakallo Maleke and Nolan Oswald Dennis. Further public program announcements to follow. About Nolan Oswald Dennis Nolan Oswald Dennis is an artist based in Johannesburg, South Africa. They hold a bachelor's degree in architecture from the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) and a master’s degree in art, culture, and technology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Their work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at Kunstinstituut Melly in Rotterdam, Netherlands; Swiss Institute in New York; Zeitz MOCAA in Cape Town; and Gasworks in London. They have been featured in group exhibitions at FRONT Triennial (Cleveland), Lagos Biennial, Liverpool Biennial, MACBA (Barcelona), Palais de Tokyo (Paris), Seoul Mediacity Biennale, Shanghai Biennale, and Young Congo Biennale, among others. They are a member of the artist groups NTU and Index Literacy Program, research associate with the VIAD Research Centre at the University of Johannesburg, and a member of the Edouard Glissant Art Fund Scientific Committee. About INSITE Since 1992, INSITE has produced more than 250 artists’ projects conceived for specific sites and political-social contexts across San Diego and Tijuana, as well as in Mexico City. INSITE Commonplaces is a curatorial platform established in 2021 for producing work with artists and communities commissioned locally in different regions of the world. In addition to Johannesburg (Reverse Forward and All at Once), these long-term projects have taken place in Lima, Peru (Common Thread), and presently, the transnational region encompassing San Diego County and Baja California, Mexico (The Sedimentary Effect). 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. Athenaeum Music & Arts Library on Facebook / Instagram

Don’t miss the final weekend of "Hiding in Plain Site," the debut solo exhibition from award-winning multidisciplinary emerging artist and designer Joseph A. Henseler. Join us for a live Artist Q&A as Joseph leads a timely, thought-provoking conversation on today’s most pressing creative topics: AI and the future of art, art as resistance and connection, why collecting art matters, and how we can stay human in an image-saturated world. Joseph, who graduated Ball State University with a degree in architecture, apprenticed in the studio of artist James Hubbell and has taught at NewSchool of Architecture, has transformed Union Hall into a space for curiosity, healing, and raw creative energy. With over 30 years of experience blending art, architecture, and activism, his Q&A promises an honest dialogue about what art can do, and why it still matters. The event is free and open to all. Come for the art. Stay for the conversation. Joseph A. Henseler on Facebook / Instagram

The university, which opens for class next year, promises a novel approach to higher education, as a hybrid institution with programs from San Diego State, Cal State San Marcos, UC San Diego and Southwestern College.