Yerba Buena Center to Reopen Exhibition Following Pro-Palestine Protests 

An exhibition at San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts is set to reopen after having been closed to the public following a protest in which artists called for a ceasefire in Gaza and altered their artworks.

The conflict was sparked by the October 7 attack by Hamas, the militant group that killed 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped roughly 240 people. Since then, Israel’s bombing campaigns have killed 31,000 Gazans, according to the local health ministry.

During a protest in February, artists within the show at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, titled “Bay Area Now 9,” altered their artworks as they called for a ceasefire in Gaza. Video of the artist Paz G spray-painting phrases to that effect onto one of their sculptures was widely shared on social media.

The museum subsequently closed the show and said it would store the works; the exhibition has remained shuttered ever since. But, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, the show has now reopened, and does include all the altered works. It is slated to run through early May.

In a statement posted to the YBCA website, the institution’s board of directors said the reopening, and the decision to include the works that were altered, “reflects our commitment to supporting artists’ voices and creating a space where diverse perspectives are welcomed, celebrated, and thoughtfully explored.” The statement added that “while the altered artwork remains unchanged since February 15, new signage will provide context regarding the alterations made by the artists. The opinions expressed by each artist are their own, and are not those of YBCA.”

The new statement seems to reflect of change of heart on the part of the board.

Previously, the museum issued a statement chiding the protesters for passing leaflets that called for the removal of “Zionist Board members and funders” of the museum. “Such language is neither productive nor tolerable,” the statement said, adding that the YBCA planned on reopening the exhibition and open a dialogue with the artists “as long as the artists agree to respect the rules and policies put in place by the organization.”

Earlier this month, the YBCA’s interim chief executive officer, Fenske Bahat, resigned following the release of an open letter that accused the museum of censorship for closing the exhibition. According to San Francisco-based public radio station KQED, which obtained a copy of the Bahat’s resignation letter, the former executive said her decision to leave the YBCA was “a direct result of the events of February 15th and its unending repercussions.”

Following Bahat’s resignation, the board released another statement that said it was “disheartened” by the protests and that some of the artists involved made “unreasonable demands.”

“Altering the work did not occur in a vacuum,” the statement said. “It was done in tandem with the distribution of offensive literature, and a list of demands that included removing the ‘Zionists’ from our Board and Staff and forcing YBCA to take a political position on an international conflict. That is  not art. That isn’t protest.”