The Ruby (space)

The Ruby
Formation2018
Location
Membership130
Founder
Rachel Khong
Director
Peggy Lee[1]
WebsiteOfficial website

The Ruby is a work and event space in the Mission District, San Francisco, with goals of building community and supporting creative work. It describes itself as offering membership to nonbinary, transfeminine and woman-identified creatives.[2] It was founded in 2018 by author Rachel Khong. In addition to providing a coworking space for artists and writers, it hosts classes, workshops, meals, public events, volunteer opportunities, and other cultural programming for members and the public.

Programs

The Ruby is a collective community project and co-working space, with the intention of a different atmosphere than co-working spaces that are tech-focused according to Khong.[3] Stevie Stacionis, a business owner in Oakland, described it as a "gritty, open-minded co-working space, where vulnerable conversations about race, politics, literature and motherhood take place over spritzes and noodles" after hosting a wine event at the Ruby.[4]

With a previous career that involved both food and the arts, Khong wanted to make "food and beverage programming a crucial element" in the Ruby.[5] Every other Friday, the Ruby invites local chefs from various culinary backgrounds to prepare meals for its members, including cuisine styles such as Vietnamese, Mexican, Indonesian, Ethiopian, Malaysian, and Native American. For happy hours every other Friday, the Ruby hosts makers specializing in a variety of drinks, particularly women and non-binary winemakers.[4]

Other programming includes clubs, including a book club and a writing club, and occasional events by members and individuals from the broader San Francisco community. On-site, the Ruby has a rolodex where individuals can look each other up for networking purposes.[6] Online, the Ruby provides an online rolodex for businesses owned by women and non-binary people.[4] In 2024 the Ruby hosted a fundraiser for the family of a local business owner.[7]

History

After graduating from the University of Florida's MFA program, Khong moved to San Francisco and worked at Lucky Peach, a food magazine co-created by David Chang. She then began writing her debut novel, Goodbye, Vitamin, which was later published in 2017, and started writing her second novel, Real Americans, in December 2016 after witnessing the Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign. Shortly after, the Lucky Peach magazine shuttered.[5] From then on, Khong focused on her writing, hopping from cafe to cafe to write, though she found herself unsatisfied by their lack of community.[8]

Khong then thought a lot about the nature of the community in the city, which spurred her to establish the Ruby, intended as a collective space for women and non-binary people. She took inspiration from other co-working spaces in the city, specifically the Makeshift Society in Hayes Valley that closed in 2016.[8] After finding the space for the Ruby—a 3,800 square foot building—Khong gathered 50 people who helped her design and furnish it. The Ruby opened in 2018.[3]

Over time, Khong acquired works of art by local members to continue decorating the Ruby space with.[8] During the COVID-19 pandemic, Khong hosted virtual programming like book clubs and movie clubs. To keep her lease, Khong briefly rented the Ruby space out to Something Labs, an organization focused on personal protective equipment.[9] In 2021, Khong retired from managing the space and moved to Los Angeles.[3][10] Peggy Lee, who was one of the founding members, became the director of the Ruby.[1]

Six months after it was established, the Ruby had over 130 members according to Bon Appétit.[4] Past and present Ruby members include Meng Jin, R. O. Kwon, Mimi Lok, Rita Bullwinkel, Esmé Weijun Wang, C. Pam Zhang, Cecilia Rabess, Gabriela Garcia, and Shruti Swamy.[3][6][10] Events have included Crystal Hana Kim and collaborations with Litquake.[11][12] Writers in Residence at the Ruby have included Nicole Chung and Mimi Tempestt.[13][14]

In 2020, Built In San Francisco recommended the Ruby in an article listing five women's co-working spaces in San Francisco.[15]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Ruby SF.

References

  1. ^ a b Blough, Jessica (December 24, 2024). "Female Leaders of the Northern California Literary Scene". Alta. Retrieved March 15, 2026.
  2. ^ "Membership". The Ruby. Retrieved March 15, 2026.
  3. ^ a b c d Ito, Robert (April 29, 2024). "How Rachel Khong Conjures Worlds, in Her Books and Beyond". The New York Times.
  4. ^ a b c d Kadvany, Elena (August 2, 2018). "The Women's Co-Working Space With a Serious Food Focus". Bon Appétit. Retrieved November 9, 2024.
  5. ^ a b Feldman, Lucy (April 29, 2024). "In the Kitchen With 'Real Americans' Author Rachel Khong". TIME. Retrieved November 9, 2024.
  6. ^ a b Millner, Caille (February 2, 2018). "Ruby offers communal work space for women". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved November 9, 2024.
  7. ^ Neely, Abigail Vân (July 3, 2024). "Temo's cafe owner's family is stuck in Gaza. She's trying to help them escape". Mission Local. Retrieved March 15, 2026.
  8. ^ a b c Zabell, Samantha (May 3, 2019). "How A Bestselling Author Transformed A Winery Into The Work Space Of Our Dreams". Apartment Therapy. Retrieved November 9, 2024.
  9. ^ Tsapovsky, Flora (October 10, 2020). "Can the Bay Area's coworking scene survive COVID-19?". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved November 9, 2024.
  10. ^ a b Felicelli, Anita (May 16, 2019). "How Rachel Khong Built The Ruby, a Coworking Community for San Francisco Creatives". Catapult Magazine. Retrieved November 30, 2024.
  11. ^ Kim, Crystal Hana; Khong, Rachel (April 17, 2024). "Sophomore efforts: A Conversation Between Rachel Khong and Crystal Hana Kim". The Rumpus. Retrieved November 9, 2024.
  12. ^ "49 Days: Graphic Novelist Agnes Lee Imagines the Afterlife". Litquake. November 2024. Retrieved November 9, 2024.
  13. ^ Chung, Nicole (April 30, 2024). "Rachel Khong on the Power and Potential of Not Knowing". Literary Hub. Retrieved November 9, 2024.
  14. ^ "Mazza Writer in Residence Josiah Luis Alderete with Mimi Tempestt, reading and in conversation". College of Liberal & Creative Arts, San Francisco State University. October 2023. Retrieved November 9, 2024.
  15. ^ McClure, Olivia (February 14, 2020). "5 Women's Coworking Spaces in San Francisco To Know". Built In. Retrieved November 9, 2024.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.