Yerba Buena Center for the Arts reopens
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts reopened the group exhibition “Bay Area Now 9” on Friday, March 15.
The organization’s signature triennial survey of Northern California art has been closed to the public since Feb. 15, when a group of protesters, including eight artists, interrupted a public program in the galleries with calls for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war and allegations that YBCA had censored pro-Palestinian artwork.
Several artists altered their work on view with messages such as “Free Palestine,” “Ceasefire Now” and “Stop funding genocide.”
Friday’s reopening of the show included the altered works.
“The decision to exhibit the altered artworks reflects our commitment to supporting artists’ voices and creating a space where diverse perspectives are welcomed, celebrated, and thoughtfully explored,” the YBCA Board of Directors said in a statement posted to the organization’s website on Thursday, March 14. “In a community as broad as the Bay Area, we understand that the IsraelHamas war impacts each of us in profoundly personal yet distinct ways. Our hope is that engagement with the exhibition will foster a sense of understanding within the art community and beyond.”
The reopening comes a week after the resignation of YBCA interim CEO Sara Fenske Bahat, who decided to transition out of her role early due to last month’s demonstration and subsequent call for a boycott of the organization made by the artists and protesters — who collectively call themselves Love Letter to Gaza — and 15 current YBCA employees. She described the fallout as “excruciating. Not just as a leader, but as a Jewish leader.
“The vitriolic and antisemitic backlash directed at me personally since that night nearly three weeks ago has made being here intolerable,” wrote Fenske Bahat on March 6. “I no longer feel safe in our own space, including due to the actions of some of our own employees.”
Fenske Bahat took over as interim CEO from Deborah Cullinan in 2022. A search for a new interim and permanent CEO will begin next week, YBCA Board Chair Renuka Kher said.
The ninth iteration of “Bay Area Now” highlights 30 local artists who were each given a space to create an installation or exhibit multiple works. The show opened on Oct. 6, the day before the start of the IsraelHamas conflict. Oaklandbased sculptor Paz G, who goes by they/them pronouns, told the Chronicle on Feb. 26 that they and other artists in the show felt “heartbroken” that YBCA didn’t reach out to them or issue any kind of public statement in support of the Palestinian people once the war broke out. “I think we were all quite surprised because of YBCA’s reputation as this museum for the people in the Bay Area. That was the beginning of it,” they said, referring to feelings of trouble between some artists in “Bay Area Now 9” and YBCA leadership.
Love Letter to Gaza — composed of Bay Area artists Paz G, Jeffrey Cheung, champoy, Courtney Desiree Morris, Leila Weefur, Sholeh Asgary and Tracy Ren from “Bay Area Now 9”; Oakland artist and curator Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo; and partner organizations Jewish Voice for Peace Bay Area, Palestinian Feminist Collective, Bay Area Palestinian Youth Movement and U.S. Palestinian Community Network — as well as the group of YBCA employees who released two open letters last month in solidarity with Palestinians.
Both also launched a petition demanding YBCA officials release a statement calling for “an immediate cease-fire and end to the siege on Palestine”; that the organization commit to the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel; and put an end to censoring work and programming that “centers Palestinian liberation” and instead develop “a policy of transparency regarding funding sources for artists’ work in the museum.”
While YBCA will still not take a public stance on the Israel-Hamas conflict, Kher told the Chronicle on Thursday that she has reached out to the eight artists “offering three windows of time with an external facilitator to be present” to discuss their issues with the organization. The first of what Kher is calling “listening sessions” is scheduled for Monday, March 18.
Meanwhile, the altered artwork in “Bay Area Now 9,” which has remained untouched since Feb. 15, will be on view with signage that aims to provide context about the changes made by the artists.
“The opinions expressed by each artist are their own, and are not those of YBCA,” the board’s letter emphasized.
Love Letter to Gaza representatives could not be reached for comment Thursday afternoon.