All of us at 826 Valencia send our heartfelt condolences to the family of Sydney Goldstein, who passed away last week.
Sydney was a member of our 826 family from the beginning. A dedicated supporter of our work, the organization that she founded and ran for 37 years, City Arts & Lectures, has been the primary sponsor of our scholarships since 2004. Over the last 14 years, On Arts has sponsored more than 50 scholarships for extraordinary college-bound 826 students with financial need.
Through their fantastic On Arts series, City Arts & Lectures raises funds each year to support these scholarships for under-resourced students who have participated in our programs. In August 2018, we named one of these scholarships the Sydney Goldstein Scholarship in her honor.
“Sydney Goldstein, I believe, is personally responsible for what is now a worldwide trend—the idea of two people sitting onstage talking,” said Dave Eggers, our co-founder and a longtime City Arts & Lectures board member. “It’s almost wholly replaced the lecture as the way to know what’s on the minds of the world’s thinkers.”
We are immeasurably grateful to Sydney and her wonderful team for this support and years of partnership. Our hearts go out to her family, friends, and collaborators during this sad time.
You can read more about Sydney’s life and work here.