A collective of San Francisco Museum of Modern Art workers identified as “SFMOMA Workers for Palestinian Liberation” released a letter Wednesday urging museum leaders to support an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza — the latest high-profile salvo in the San Francisco arts world’s reckoning over the crisis in Gaza.
The letter, addressed to SFMOMA director Christopher Bedford; the SFMOMA board of trustees, which is led by Gap scion Robert “Bob” Fisher; and SFMOMA’s executive committee, alleges that the museum has remained silent on the war in Gaza and has refused to “engage in dialogue around a profound humanitarian crisis.”
“We write as San Francisco Museum of Modern Art employees, in the absence of any statement from our institution’s leadership, to affirm our solidarity with the Palestinian people as they confront decades of violent oppression and apartheid and to condemn Israel’s devastating and ongoing siege of Gaza,” says the letter.
Among the workers’ list of demands: Allow workers to “support or develop programming” focusing on the Palestinian people, find ways “to center and amplify Palestinian voices in our exhibitions, commissions, and collaborations,” and commit to the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, or PACBI.
The publication of the letter comes amid a backdrop of protests and sit-ins on college campuses nationwide, including at UC Berkeley, and bridge and port blockades. Within the local art world, the letter also follows two high-profile actions by artists speaking out in support of Gaza: In February eight artists altered their own work at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts with messages in support of Gaza and the Palestinian people, prompting a month-long museum shutdown and the resignation of CEO Sara Fenske Bahat. Earlier this month, anti-Zionist Jewish artists withdrew their works from an upcoming exhibition at the Contemporary Jewish Museum.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, more than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military since October, when Hamas militants surged into southern Israel, killing an estimated 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages.
“Our viability as a cultural institution depends upon our response to the mounting atrocities in Gaza and the repercussions of this genocide for our international public and local communities,” the letter reads. “The museum’s silence fails the artists, families, educators, and art lovers we claim to serve.”
A museum spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Gazetteer regarding the letter.
The silence, workers allege, has also had a chilling effect within the museum.
An ‘environment of isolation and fear’
During a March “sunshine” meeting of the SFMOMA board of trustees — a meeting open to the public as required by San Francisco law — one worker lamented the “environment of isolation and fear” that had taken root within the museum in recent months.
The staffer was resolute in her statement to top museum brass and board members who were in attendance that day, including Bedford and Fisher.
“You have a staff full of creative, brilliant, kind individuals,” SFMOMA staffer Chloe Kwiatkowski told leaders during the public comment section of the meeting, “and you refuse to engage with them.”
Since October, three workers tell Gazetteer SF, SFMOMA leadership has been largely silent in addressing Israel’s military attacks and blockade in Gaza — even as conversations about actions at museums just steps away from SFMOMA grew louder among museum workers. The worker added that the overall sentiment internally “seemed to be discomfort and fear of retaliation for speaking up.”
“Although I was never told to be silent about Gaza, it felt like an unspoken rule that the topic was taboo,” said one SFMOMA museum employee, who was granted anonymity over concerns of retaliation.
Barring a few memos from top brass, like one obtained by Gazetteer SF dated October 25 — which linked to internal mental health resources and encouraged workers to “check in on yourself” amid “the violence in the Middle East” — the museum has not made an internal statement about the crisis in Gaza.
Instead, workers who have attempted to facilitate internal discussions about Gaza have received pushback from management — often under the framing that it violated internal HR or legal policies. One worker explained that a colleague who wanted to stage a teach-in was forced to cancel it due to concerns from SFMOMA’s legal team. Others were discouraged from hosting any events or developing museum programming related to Gaza, another worker said.
SFMOMA did not respond to a list of questions about the sunshine meeting, the museum’s response to the war in Gaza, or local artists’ protests in support of Gaza.
In a statement provided to Gazetteer SF, SFMOMA director Chris Bedford emphasized that museum leaders value staff input.
“We take feedback from our community, including our staff, very seriously, and it is important for our board and executive leaders to hear from our team members as we make decisions about SFMOMA's operations and activities,” Bedford said. “As we move forward, the museum will continue to foster dialogue among its staff, and explore programmatic opportunities to bring our broader community together through the work of a wide spectrum of artists.”
But workers remain unconvinced about the museum’s efforts to foster dialogue among staff or discuss “programmatic opportunities” pertaining to the crisis in Gaza.
“They have not shown an interest in listening to what people have to say in group settings,” said one worker.
“It shouldn't have to be this hard to do the right thing,” another worker added.