Artist, curator, arts administrator and legislator John R. Killacky died at home on November 2, 2026. He was 74. John is the son of Rita E. and John L. Killacky of Chicago, Ill.
John served two terms in the Vermont House of Representatives and held positions at various cultural and philanthropic organizations, including the Flynn, San Francisco Foundation, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Walker Art Center, Pew Charitable Trust and Trisha Brown Dance Company.
John instructed and published widely on the arts and cultural policy, facilitating workshops in Bratislava, Buenos Aires, Salzburg, Sofia, Toronto and Warsaw, in addition to teaching at University of Minnesota, Drexel University and Champlain College.
John’s internationally presented videos and intermedia installations are held in the collections of numerous institutions. He coedited the Lambda Literary Award-winning anthology Queer Crips: Disabled Gay Men and Their Stories and published a compilation of his writing, because art: commentary, critique, & conversation.
John is survived by his beloved husband, Larry Connolly, as well as four siblings: Kit Barbaro, Jean Killacky, Tom Killacky and Bill Killacky, along with their spouses, children and grandchildren.
In addition to his numerous professional, civic and artistic endeavors, John nurtured a lifelong love of animals that included his Shetland pony, Pacific Raindrop. Please consider a donation to the Merrymac Farm Sanctuary in Charlotte, Vt., in John’s memory.
Dear Larry,
I am terribly sorry about John. He was an amazing advocate and I am sure a wonderful husband. My heart is with you,
Claudia Nielsen (Sternbach)
A profound loss to our human community… Rest in power, John. Peace to your beloveds.
My deepest condolences go out to Larry and all John’s family and extended family and friends from all of his dear friends on the West Coast. Many happy memories of the time we got to spend with you two here in San Francisco. I am imagining John, pain free, frolicking in heaven with all the animals and people he ever loved.
I knew John briefly but his kindness, humor and artistic ability will remain with me forever!
May we all strive to live life as fully in our own ways as John did. Strength and love to Larry, and Raindrop, as they move forward in their lives without John.