Our good friend and co-founder Ebony McKinney passed away this weekend
This weekend, we lost our friend and EAP co-founder Ebony McKinney. There will be an informal gathering for her this Thursday, August 3, 4–7PM at SOMArts. More below.
It is with great difficulty that we tell you that our dear friend and EAP co-founder Ebony McKinney passed away suddenly over the weekend from complications related to pneumonia and lupus.
The San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC) made a public announcement yesterday on her passing and forthcoming community gathering (see below), and KQED posted this piece about her work as a community organizer. There has been great outpour of love and support online and through personal connections.
We will be working to find a way to honor Ebony, her work, and her legacy over the next couple weeks. There is a giant Ebony-shaped hole left in our hearts and a lot of weight on our minds as we process this transition. We hope you will take some time and space to remember her and that you will be patient with us as we do the same.
With great love and gratitude,
Rhiannon & Katherin
Some ways to connect and support
❤ SFAC, where Ebony has worked off-and-on since 2005, invites the community to gather informally to honor and celebrate her life and legacy this Thursday, August 3rd at SOMArts (934 Brannan Street) from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
❤ Send us your stories, photos, thoughts, and memories so we can gather them to share publicly. Email to engagement@emergingsf.org.
❤ In lieu of flowers, you can make a donation in Ebony's honor to the Red Poppy Art House (redpoppyarthouse.org) or Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Society (againstthestream.org).
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Emerging Arts Professionals/SFBA is a network focused on the empowerment, leadership, and growth of next generation arts and culture workers in the San Francisco Bay Area through knowledge sharing, learning opportunities, and partnerships.
By supporting today’s emerging models and mindsets, we hope to generate a path for individuals’ meaningful and sustainable work and to stimulate a vibrant, integrated, and evolving arts and culture sector.
EAP/SFBA is a member of the Intersection Incubator, a program of Intersection for the Arts, providing fiscal sponsorship, incubation and consulting services to artists. Visit www.theintersection.org.
EAP would like to thank the following funders for their support.
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, a nonpartisan, private charitable foundation that advances ideas and supports institutions to promote a better world. Visit hewlett.org.
Kenneth Rainin Foundation is a private family foundation dedicated to enhancing quality of life by championing and sustaining the arts, promoting early childhood literacy and supporting research to cure chronic disease. Collaboration and innovation are at the heart of all its programs. Its vision is guided by the belief that change is possible through inquiry, creativity and compassion.
The California Arts Council is committed to building public will and resources for the arts; fostering accessible arts initiatives that reflect contributions from all of California’s diverse populations; serving as a thought leader and champion for the arts; and providing excellent, effective, and relevant programs and services.
