Ella King Torrey

Ella King Torrey was born in 1957, in Bronxville in Westchester County, New York (state). Torrey continued her studies at the University of Mississippi (UM), where deepened her learning on contemporary folk art, and Black quilt making traditions. Her master's thesis was on folk art painter, Theora Hamblett. == Career ==

After graduating in 1985, Torrey became a program officer at the Pew Charitable Trusts in Philadelphia, an NGO working on the creation of artists' subsidized housing, and fundraising for local music organizations. During her time at Pew, she founded and led the Pew Artists Fellowship Program. Her memorial service was held at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, with a second service was held at the Santa Monica Museum of Art (now Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles). After her death the Ella King Torrey Arts Fund was created at the Germantown Friends School in Philadelphia. Her collection of quilts from 1980 to 1983, the Ella King Torrey Collection of African American Quilts, are now part of the collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. == See also ==