An Open Letter to Craft Alliance: End Racism, Stop Islamophobia, Free Palestine

Bryan Knicely and Craft Alliance Board

boycott craft alliance - end racism

Hello!

As you may know, Craft Alliance has censored the expression of free speech by canceling the recent artist-in-residence exhibition. Several members of Craft Alliance’s community have united to release an open letter to be circulated amongst the wider Craft Alliance community in order to mobilize the on and offline condemnation of their rash Instagram post into a material call for action.

The attached letter details the series of incidents that have occurred in the past week and the abuse of authority by the leadership at Craft Alliance displayed during the process of repression and removal of the exhibition Planting Seeds, Sprouting Hope on Jun 24, 2024, days after its opening reception.

On Wednesday, 6/26 Executive Director Bryan Knicely at Craft Alliance rejected a planned meeting with the artists and their mediators to consult on this matter and have been unresponsive to subsequent follow up requests for accountability, which has left us with no other option than to call for an immediate boycott until our demands are met from the non-profit organization.

Please read the letter and sign your name ASAP in compliance to the boycott and share it with your Craft Alliance community connections. If you are unable to participate in the boycott for personal or financial reasons, we encourage you to instead write an open letter expressing your own dissent of the events and actions as they have unfolded.

In Solidarity,

To: Bryan Knicely and Craft Alliance Board
From: [Your Name]

Dear Bryan Knicely and Craft Alliance Board,

We, the undersigned, are appalled by the removal of the artist-in-residence exhibition Planting Seeds, Sprouting Hope on Jun 24, 2024, days after its opening reception. You accused the artists of violating “Craft Alliance’s policies on anti-bullying, diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.” Without proactively offering transparency regarding your decision-making process and values to the artists or the wider public, you:

Released a public statement falsely accusing the artists of using “antisemitic imagery and slogans calling for violence,”
Removed all references to the artists’ work from the Craft Alliance website and social media channels and covered the gallery’s glass doors to prevent the wider public from seeking evidence and limit discourse,
Terminated both artists’ residencies and one artist’s continued employment as teaching faculty, and
Canceled a meeting scheduled between Craft Alliance’s leadership and the artists scheduled for Wed, Jun 26 meant for listening and sharing.

The artists created their works and prepared their exhibition in alignment with Craft Alliance policies. It is clear to the wider public and St. Louis’ creative community that the regressive and repressive decision for Craft Alliance’s leadership to terminate the exhibition was simply due to anti-Arab racism, Islamophobia, and specifically anti-Palestinian rhetoric and erasure. Furthermore, the removal of this exhibition contradicts Craft Alliance's diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility mission as well as the commemoration of Land Acknowledgement to Indigenous tribes as listed on Craft Alliance’s website.

As a non-profit arts and crafts organization, it’s important to respect the artists’ creative expression and approach to healing as we continue to bear witness to the livestreamed atrocities taking place in Gaza and resist our government’s complicity in and normalization of the genocide. The artists used art and craft as a means to move through deep grief, and many guests who attended the show found the work to be inspiring and healing. Craft Alliance has violated their mission to “embrace diversity in all its forms, fostering an inclusive work environment where a wide-range of characteristics, backgrounds, and perspectives thrive” by excluding the artists’ perspectives.

As past and present members of Craft Alliance’s community, the St. Louis arts community, and the wider public, we are calling for an immediate boycott of teaching, class enrollment, programs, exhibiting works in the gallery and shop, membership, and donations until the following actions are made:

The immediate resignation of Executive Director Bryan Knicely and Board Chair Jackie Levin,
A public forum hosted by Craft Alliance to offer transparency to its community members about its leadership’s actions and to listen to its community’s concerns,
A public written apology to the artists and a retraction of the accusatory statement, and
Adequate severance to the artists for their termination and loss of employment.

Sincerely,