Longtime arts advocate Anthony Turney passed away July 4, 2014.  Turney had a varied career, spanning several cities, starting in New York as an event producer. He would eventually become Deputy Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts in Washington, DC; Executive Director of the Dance Theater of Harlem; Administrative Director of the San Francisco Opera; and CEO of the NAMES Project Foundation. In 1996, he was ordained to the Episcopal diaconate and continued to work as a member of the clergy until his retirement.

“I had the opportunity to work closely with Anthony Turney from 1985 to 1992 while he was NEA Deputy Chair and I was newly the President and CEO of the National Assembly of Local Art Agencies, now Americans for the Arts. Anthony was a champion and a great advisor to the local arts agency movement in America as well as to the State Arts Agencies and as Deputy Chair oversaw the evolution of the Local Arts Agency program at the NEA," said Robert Lynch, CEO and President of Americans for the Arts, on the passing of Anthony Turney. "He was a fair, caring and elegant leader and helped shaped the infrastructure of arts support that we have in America today."

In addition to his work for the arts, Turney was a tireless champion of social justice causes, volunteering his time to AIDS advocacy and relief work in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.