Opening Reception - James Hubbell: Architecture of Jubilation

In southern California, between the influences of San Diego, Tijuana and the Pacific; among mountains, manzanita, boulders and oaks, lives a man who builds a world he wants to live in - where the aesthetic is a reflection of nature - and philosophy and art are a way of life. Artist James Hubbell has a 70-plus-year career as a contemporary master who expresses himself through nature-inspired art, architecture and functional objects and spaces. Using stone and glass, paint and pen, wood and steel, his works are natural and unconfined. His human and nature-centric design places art in walls, roofs, floors, and furnishings, not separate from, but as extensions of life. In Hubbell’s world, the everyday is elevated to art, and art is for every day.

Hubbell recognizes that it is our cities, buildings, structures - our treatment of our environment -that are perhaps our truest expressions of our views and values, our understanding of the ordering of the universe in which we live. Without great fanfare or financial reward, James Hubbell, the non-architect builder, personally led the design and construction of multiple architectural and fine art projects that accomplished meaningful social and educational transformation in Tijuana and San Diego.

Architectural designer, sculptor, painter, stained-glass artist, community activist  - James Hubbell is one of San Diego’s most prolific artists. His Architecture of Jubilation - is an invitation for all of us to create the world we want to live in.

This exhibition was made possible by a collaboration between the San Diego Public Library, the San Diego Commission for Arts & Culture, the Library Foundation SD and the Ilan-Lael Foundation. This Project is an official community initiative of the World Design Capital San Diego/ Tijuana 2024.

The Opening Reception will feature musician Pablo Dodero! Pablo is a producer, DJ, and writer originally from Tijuana, México. He is currently working on his PhD in Music at UCSD researching Mexico's electronic music history. He has been involved in the DIY music scene in Tijuana, San Diego, and Los Angeles for over two decades and currently performs experimental electronic music under the names Adiós Mundo Cruel and Les Temps Barbares.

The Art & Vision of James Hubbell will be showing concurrently at four locations throughout San Diego. Each location highlights a different theme. Each location has its own unique commemorative sticker, available while supplies last. Collect all four:

• Architecture of Jubilation - Central Library 
• A Mountain Home & Studios - Scripps Miramar Ranch Library 
• Pacific Rim Project  - Mission Valley Library 
• Lado a Lado - Otay Mesa-Nestor Library 

Featured programming will be occurring throughout the exhibition run and includes discussions, workshops and more. Click the link to see what's coming up: mysdpl.org/jameshubbell

For more information on our Visual Arts Program, please visit: mysdpl.org/visual arts