Library Interior images with artworks by artist Lezley Saar as part of her library residency period.
Title: A Living Library: Art, Archives, and Artist Collaboration at the Philosophical Research Society
Date & Time: Saturday, September 19, 2026 at 1:00pm EDT
Duration: 1 hour
Capacity: 100
Admission: Free! (open to A.R.T. Members & Non-Members)
Format: Webinar via Zoom
A conversation with librarian and co-curator dama on the history of the PRS library, and what it means to keep a collection of 90-year-old esoteric wisdom in living dialogue with artists today.
Founded in 1934 by scholar Manly P. Hall, the Philosophical Research Society library in Los Feliz houses over 40,000 rare volumes, manuscripts, and art objects devoted to global wisdom traditions, esoteric thought, and the history of human inquiry. But from its founding, Hall envisioned a collection that could not be built from books alone; he believed art belonged in the library as its own form of wisdom.
PRS Librarian and Co-Curator dama will trace that founding vision across nearly a century of the library's history -- from Hall's original conception of a collection that held artists in mind, through PRS's ongoing artist-in-residence program, to the collaborations, exhibitions, and curatorial practices shaping the collection today.
The talk will be followed by an audience Q&A.
This is a free, virtual webinar hosted via Zoom. Advance registration is required. Upon registering for the webinar, you will receive a confirmation via email with a link to join the webinar. This webinar will be video recorded. Please note that registration caps at 100 attendees.
About
dama (Amanda Maciel Antunes) is a Brazilian, self-taught occult artist based in Los Angeles. She is a librarian and co-curator at the Philosophical Research Society, where she cares for a non-circulating research collection of over 40,000 rare volumes alongside an active program of artist collaborations and residencies. At PRS, dama founded and hosts the Surrealist Study Group, a monthly gathering devoted to women artists and writers who looked beyond the visible world for inspiration. Her own transdisciplinary practice spanning painting, writing, sound, and durational performance is rooted in memory, ritual, mythology, and the spiritual undercurrents connecting generations of women artists and mystics.
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