The billionaire Crown family, philanthropic donor to Chicago institutions including the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC), has become the 34th wealthiest family in the US by directly profiting from US imperialism. The largest single source of Crown family wealth derives from the Crowns’ ownership stake in General Dynamics: the fifth largest weapons contractor in the US.

The Crown family has deeply embedded itself in the Art Institue through their philanthropic gifts—most recently a $2 million donation to the School of the Art Institute (SAIC)—and substantial donations to the general operating and educational programming budget at AIC. The family has been rewarded with a number of honors at AIC, including the appointment of Steven Crown to the board of trustees, the naming of the Henry Crown Gallery after family patriarch Henry Crown, the naming of the Crown Family Education Center, and the Crown professorship at SAIC. That means that the Art Institute is directly profiting when General Dynamics drops bombs on school buses in Yemen. That the Art Institute is profiting when General Dynamics munitions annihilate a family’s home in Palestine. That the Art Institute is profiting when General Dynamics subsidiaries kidnap migrant children at the US-Mexico border.    

Despite owing their fortune to the manufacture of weapons and spending billions to support pro-war candidates and policies, the Crown family presents itself to the public as patrons of the arts and philanthropists. The Art Institute has been a willing and eager participant in shaping that image, as can be seen in the 2016 press release announcing the $2 million donation to SAIC: 

The Crowns are recognized throughout Chicago for their support of the arts and culture, civic affairs, education, the environment and health and human services. They are also generous supporters of the Art Institute of Chicago, SAIC’s partner institution. Paula Crown graduated from SAIC’s Department of Painting and Drawing with a Masters of Fine Arts in 2012, and Steve Crown is a member of the Art Institute’s Board of Trustees and the School’s Board of Governors.

This is a prime example of what anti-gentrification activists have coined artwashing: using the promotion of and access to the arts as a cover for something pernicious. In this case, AIC and SAIC are washing the billions the Crowns have earned from the ruined lives and stolen resources by the US war machine and military contractors like General Dynamics. In their own words, AIC states that a “museum reflects and deepens our collective humanity; the arts are integral to an inspired and just society.” Shouldn’t an institution with the reach and power that AIC has uphold the values that it claims to represent? Is “causing indiscriminate and foreseeably disproportionate loss of civilian life” compatible with “an inspired and just society”?

As artists and art lovers in Chicago, we are calling on AIC and SAIC to live up to the principles of collective humanity and cut ties with the Crown family. These institutions that have employed and educated generations of Chicago artists are making all of their employees, artists, and visitors complicit in the ongoing crimes committed against the people of the world with General Dynamics weapons and initiated by the politicians that the Crowns support. We reject complicity with US imperialism and choose instead to stand with the people of the world. We will no longer be made complicit in the eviction of the elderly from their homes, the assassination of journalists, the detention of children, or the slaughter of whole families that the ongoing occupation of Palestine entails. We will no longer be complicit in the brutal blockade on and bombing of Yemen that is starving its people and destroying its infrastructure. We will no longer be complicit in the detention and surveillance of migrants fleeing the lethal impacts of US imperialism. 

We take inspiration from the protest movements that have confronted museums across the country such as the struggle that removed the Sackler name from museum walls for their ugly profiting off the opioid crisis and the protests against the Museum of Modern Art that exposed the war makers and profiteers on that board of trustees, including Paula Crown. And we extend our support to the workers at AIC and SAIC who are demanding the basic protections of a union.

The Art Institute of Chicago has a choice to make: it can continue to collaborate with the Crown family, artwashing the proceeds of US imperialism, or it can stand with the people of the world. As people who contribute to and cherish the culture of Chicago, we refuse to allow art to be used to invisibilize war, genocide, and imperialist plunder. We, with Behind Enemy Lines, demand that the Art Institute of Chicago:

• Cut ties with the Crown family
• Refuse all future Crown family donations
• Remove Steven Crown from the board of trustees
• Rename the Henry Crown Gallery
• End the Crown professorship at SAIC

 Through a thousand threads, the US war machine is a tightly woven nexus—involving politicians, corporations, the military, the media, the academy, and arts institutions—that promotes the common interest of the whole of the US elite: death and destruction ‘over there’ to maintain their privilege ‘over here’. This campaign aims to pull on one of those threads to raise anti-imperialist consciousness and ultimately strike a material blow against US imperialism. Join us. 

Signatures on this letter are now closed

Signers:

Rozalinda Borcila, freelancer
Katherine Cavanaugh, Behind Enemy Lines, Chicago artist, AIC member
Kera MacKenzie, artist and SAIC lecturer
Andrew Mausert-Mooney, Artist and Teacher in Chicago
Carlos Rosa, Alderperson
Cultural Workers for Palestine, Chicago
Jacquelyn Wilson
Stella Brown, artist
Katy Collins
Deborah Stratman, UIC
gerardo calvillo-rojas
Nate Whelden
RV
Michael Boyte, Behind Enemy Lines, AIC member
Marcus Reidy
Henry Balch
Nico Cavalucci
Luna Jaskowiak, Lecturer, SAIC
Kristi McGuire, SAIC
Bernard Wang, CCHRP
Salome Chasnoff, Senior Lecturer, SAIC
Anneli Goeller, artist and SAIC lecturer
Jacqui Zeng
Evelyn, CCHRP
Josh B Mabe
Malia Haines-Stewart, Block Museum of Art
Neal Vandenbergh, Artist
bennett h, student @ saic
Sophie Canade, Art Therapist
Fae, SAIC Student
Monica Panzarino, Alumni
Jesse Malmed, Artist, Curator; Assistant Professor, University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee
Amanda Assaley, artist and SAIC alumni
David Gebhart, Bookseller
kate bowen, acre
Malic Amalya, Assistant Professor at Emerson College / SAIC alumnus
Tom Clarkson
Jordan Blanco, Filmmaker
Curtis Miller, lecturer and artist
Davi Lakind, Assistant Professor, Mercer University
Abby Mendoza
Ej Nussbaum
Pauline Lacson
Sammy Zimmerman, University of Chicago B.A.
Eric O’Hara, Chicago Community Jail Support
sean h
Thomas Huston, AIC Staff
Rachel Lawrence
Patrick Lentz
Bev T, CCHRP
Rebecca Beachy, Lecturer, School of the Art Institute
Molly Urschel, SAIC student
Sebastian Aguirre, Alumni
Lesley Jackson, Chicago artist
Erik Larson
El Rudolph
Michael Metzger, Curator of Media Arts, Block Museum of Art
Harley Pomper, Artist
Daniel Luedtke, Assistant Professor of Art Florida State University
Alex Conley
Connor Pein, Artist
Christos Grigoropoulos, Musician
Bryan Wendorf, Programmer
Arthur Weiss, Artist
John Neff, Artist
Beate Geissler, Artist
Aza Greenlee, Artist/Social Worker
Nick Wylie, Artist
Eric Fleischauer, Professor SAIC
John Cronan, Artist
Raul Benitez, Film Programmer
Tommy Heffron, Professor/Artist
Mariana Arnold, Artist
Taylor Wren, Artist
Nat Carvalto, Artist
Kriss Bataille, Art Lover
Salvatore Consalvi, Filmmaker/Geologist
Christopher Slind Nicholson, Filmmaker
Jacob Kessler, Filmmaker/Educator
Heather Nichols, Nonprofit
Tamia Davis, Writer
Kalil Sims, Actor
Sara Amin, UIC Student
Liam Coerr, SAIC undergrad 23
Amy Huske, Alumni
Nalani Stolz, Artist
Kevin P Rauch
Mollie Hartenstein
Summer Shin, Student at SAIC
Saige Mitchell, SAIC
Evelyn Spear, SAIC
Nathan Stein
Hesham Esmail, Journalist
Emrys Brandt, Alumn of SAIC
Michael Anderson, SAIC
Iesha Alyafai, Student
Ahlam Matariyeh, Student
Ayda Alslaimi, Student
Miles Bennet Hogerty, University of Chicago student
Mariam Shatat, Student
Naseem
Islam
Dena Almusa
Yousef Ahmad, Law Student
Zaina Amer, Student
Sara Alnass, Student
Kit Ginzky, Student at Crown School
Joe Yacowsiz, Student
Noa Myers, Stuent
Ayman Ali, Engineer
Roha Musa, Pharmacist
Chaise Hauck, UChicago Alum
Caleb Mitchell, Student
Max Mewman, Student
Emily Spalding, Student
Sandra Puebla
Sam Keefe, Organizer
Hanan Shatat, Student
Mariam Ahmad, Student/Artist
Rama A, Student
Katie Ragsdale, Social Worker
Benajmin Ginzky
Bassel Joudeh
Wisam Abdallah
Mona Ibrahim
Fatima Elaygan
Navid, Student
Aaron Stanaway, Student
Cesaire Morano
Carolos Benitez
Syed Badshah, Doctor
Khela Sajjad, Student
Sam Naji
Dalliya Rabei
Yves Cao
Lisa Claire Greene, Alumni
Basem Askar
Curtis Oren
Hamza Almusa
Fatima Almusa
Kevin Swanson, Therapist
Karin Obaid, Nurse
Faye Breining, Social Worker
Nicholas Breining, Student
Nasli Lane
Kendra Cwikla, Designer
Juliette Menok, Tattoo artist
Bianca Prada
Jake Florenese
Alireza Mullah, Student
Hasan Alsahli, Student
Aliza Siddiqui, Student
Mo Shir, Student
James Carroll
Sarah Dribin, Teacher
Andi Jenkins
Camille McCormick
Caleb Juza, 3D Artist
Kevin Rothbard, Child councilor
Feda Turshan
Wata Kartoum
Ashraf Turshan
Yazen Turshan
Ehab Turshan
Mustafa Turshan, Pharmacist
Amnah Shakhatseh
Issan Hasan
Isabel Reidy
Jess Shoman, Musician
Hank Smith, Artist
Khaled Almusa
Barbara Bright-Read
Max Murphy, Engineer
Felix Acuna, Therapist
Hossam Moussa, Student
Syed Ali, Engineer
Holly Smith
Lillie Therieau
Katia Savoni
Annie Madigan, Teacher
Pavani Malli
Donova Lownielli, Architect
Sam Wein, Writer
Kate Harrington-Rosen, Consultant
Shane Mitchell, Art lover
Julie Wernick, Teacher
Dashune Tahini, Bookseller
Akram Issa, Engineer
Julia Porter, Therapist
Cecelie, Student
Aidan Ciuperca, Student at SAIC
Quinn Dull, SAIC
Corinna Kloth, Student at SAIC
beck
Julia Gilchrest, Artist
Sloan Klusendorf, Grad Student SAIC FVNMA
Sydney Gray, Student
Aiden Workman, Student
Griffin Larese-Casanova, SAIC student
Fawn Bell
Elaine Yue, Student
Sophia Menoche, Student
Alana Baird, Student
Dariah, Student
Sarah Jordan, SAIC Student
Oscar O’Neill, Student
Songyi Park, Student
Angelina Han
Kirby Long, Student
Vivianne Siqueiros, SAIC Student
Charlie T, Student
Fiona Nellist, SAIC
Grace Gonia, SAIC Grad Student
Mary Miller
Gia Theodoropoulos, SAIC freshman
Isabella Parenti
Raine Yung
Azziza Robinson
Amelia Purwin, Student
Jules, SAIC student
Christine, Student
Lily Stafki, Applicant
Marley Lyon, SAIC
Yesicka Hura, Program Manager
Rylee
Elise Thierry Brown, SAIC Student
Zaynab Hilal
Ryu Tada, Student
madison bridge, student
natalie costello, student
salem messner, saic student
Isabela Ortega, Student
Cameron Cook
Lithe Ettawageshik, Student
Vivien Adamian, Student
Chloe Dalton, SAIC Student
Conner Malone, Student
angelina cofer, student
Valerie, student
Annie L., Student at SAIC
Thea Kira, student
Kate Roper
Kato Nazarian, SAIC student
Lydia Winklbauer, Student
kato nazarian, student
Marium Asif, SAIC Student
Mazzy, saic student
zach g, student
Xia R, Student
Gracy Zhou, Student
Rin Caswell, Student
hali kleinfeld, Student
Laila Keppard, CCC Alumnus
Viktoria, Student
Lio B, SAIC student
Mèo Do, Student
Olivien, Student
Giselle Grant, Student
Tala, SAIC Student
Grace Kromah, Jfabc public services coordinator
Natan vales, Student
Israa Darwich, Student
Abby Mendoza, SAIC MAATC Student
Lily Formato, Student at SAIC
Owen Gunderman, Student
tali perez, saic student
June T
Taira, saic student
Celina Jara Tovar, Student, Artist
Renata Escamilla, SAIC Student
Trinity
Sophie James, SAIC student
Clara Neisel, Student
Lily MacLachlan
Ellie Gerken, Student
Sunny Gandy
Ayah Yusuf Abdulkadir, Student
Ryan Bergenholtz, student
Ali Holm, SAIC Student
mary jo robles, saic student
Alex, Saic
S M, Student
Evie Shambaugh, Saic Student
Jenna Kidd, Student SAIC
Benjamin Glass, Grad student
Hope Esser, Saic faculty
Songe Kvinsland, Student
Cammille Henry, Student
Geneva G, SAIC Student
Liv Shyevitch, SAIC student
Saskia, SAIC student
Lily Gregoire, SAIC Student
Meghan Sim, Student
Amani Poindexter, Student of SAIC
Daisy Vanderwood, Saic student
Ella Weiler, SAIC student
Tatiana Munoz, SAIC Student
Keira Modkins, Undergrad Student
Jannah Sellars
Maya Morales Tutek, SAIC student
Kennedy Schuh, artist
Star Castro, Student
Iman Fatmi, Student
EB, Student
Isabella Solano, student
Emma Richardson, SAIC
ava
Alanna rebbeck, SAIC
Emily Langenberg, MAATC student
Ryanne Packard, SAIC
Kate Ustinova
Rowan Davis, Student
Adelina Silva, SAIC Student
sophie urschel, student
Marley Geisler-Amhowiitz, Student of saic
Joel Jarquin, SAIC Student
Reeves Beckley, Student
Caitlyn, SAIC
Emma robertson
Dylan
Aazeen Haqui, SAIC student
Ann Marie Robles
Rosa
Kore Hernandez, Student
Ciarra Giron, SAIC Student
Kathy
Bailey Koval, SAIC Student
soobin
Mackensie Brunnenmeyer, SAIC Student
Karina, Student
Jasmine, SAIC Student
Erin, SAIC
DJ Cherry, former student
Rebecca, SAIC Alumni
Jack Abbott
Adaora Ekwughalu, SAIC Student
kailee amendola, student at saic
Nadia Kieler, Student
Bree Miller
Lily Harbison, PPU Student
Sam
Ahmed Almahdi, Facility, Student
Beck Lech, Student at SAIC
Anna Frerichs, Art Institute Member
Ada Donnelly, Student worker
Bohyun Kim, Student
Theo Rorem, student
Leo, Student
AJ D, SAIC Student
Sienna Hageman
Olivia hyer
Taira, Artist
Alyvia Luong, Student
Abby Bucio, SAIC undergrad
dyllan champion, student
Olivia Bruursema, Student
Janet
Arden allman, student
j swain
Riley Gunderson, SAIC graduate student
Yixiao Yao, Alumnus
Jane Schamess, SAIC student
AWXEL CAJAS, SAIC student
Elizabeth Crosswhite, Student
Charlie Thornton, Student at SAIC
Mara Mergens
Samantha Qian, Student
Josie Heberle, Student
Carla Burkert, SAIC student
cass, student at saic
Sasha, SAIC Student
Lily Namdaran, Student of the school for the art institute
Henry Stone, SAIC undergraduate student
Nevaeh Parish, SAIC Student
Sunny
Victor Edwards, ALAANA FELLOWSHIP RECIPIENT
Roman L, Student
Kaitland Gutierrez
Elizabeth Flood, Student
Astrid Karron
Asia Rabago, SAIC alumni
Lara
charlie kuchtey
Hannah Kaplan
Naomi
Casey Wheeler, Saic undergrad
Nina S, Student
ronan nghe
izzy
Renata Winchell
Beatriz, Alumni
Sami Mark, SAIC Alumni
Lauren Tramontana, SAIC
Benjamin Bellwoar, SAIC graduate student in FVNMA
Isabel S, Student
Kennedy Joseph
Molly
Lonzo Foster
Monica Gong, SAIC
Abid shalabi, Student
Marshall Moore, Student
Dena Sciamanna
Erik Akerman
Nine Pickett, Student
Lucky kapka, Student
Mae Smull, SAIC student and comics artist
Eddy Barber-Rozema, SAIC student
Miko Sprenkle, SAIC student
Fola Akinde, recent graduate
Vee Romero, Alumni
Joey M, SAIC student
Soren Hsu, SAIC
Sarah Wohl, Student
Lilianna Presley-Ping, SAIC Student
Marcia Presley
Ava Wanbli, Artist/Lecturer
Ellie anderson, Student
Yasmine Weir, Student
Chloe Chilcott
Isabella Rockwell
maddie cruz, student
Malia Joe, Student
Maicah Cabello, student
Sydney Roland, SAIC student
Cadence Phillips, student
Jiselle Ramirez, Student
Abigail Shomper, Student
Skylar Berliner
Waverly Vernon, Student
Yasmine Weir, Student
Baron Noble, Student at SAIC
Liz Graham, Member of The Art Institute
Luna Baker-Stohlmann
Emily Assef, Student at Crown Family School of Social Work, UChicago
Anna Strzepek
Laiqah Hanold, Chicago Artist
Kenny McRoberts, Student and artist
Melissa Everet
Julia Fetters, Current student
Allison Hornak, 2023 SAIC Graduate
Josephine Yanasak-Leszczynski, Rights + Reproductions Specialist, Art Institute of Chicago
Alex Bortell, SAIC
Matthew Marquez, Museum Goer
Charlotte Adams, AIC member
Sheila Majumdar, AIC staff
Evelyn Lewis, alumni
Emma Ryan, SAIC student
QP, Former AIC employee
Louay Masri
Arielle Haut, Rhode Island School of Design Alumnus
Apeksha Kishore, Physician Assistant, Art lover
Sara Carminati, former AIC staff
Tiana Westbrook, Saic undergrad student
Maggie Fan
Frencia Stephenson, SAIC
Hivin Wijesekara, Student
Sonja, Student @saic
Chloe Oslin, Alumni and Student Affairs Coordinator
L Vinebaum, SAIC
Taykhoom Biviji, Alum
Shruthi Kannan
Paul Elitzik
Jessica Hu, SAIC
Meenasarani Linde Murugan
Emma Elenes, SAIC Studetn
Kat Zagaria Buckley, MAAH ’17
Jaclyn Jacunski, Director of Civic Engagement
Zeniya Soro
Nisha Bolsey
Shweta Moorthy
Aisha Naseem, Principal Equity Consultant at Pathways Consulting
Yaffa AS, Executive Director
Marian Frost, Alumni
Casey Wheeler, Saic undergrad
Adelaide Kong, SAIC Student
Ari Karafiol, SAIC student
Siobhan Wood, Grad student
Arabella Borrego, saic student
Meg
Itzel V, Student
Naveen She, Public health professional
Els Deitz, Student at SAIC
Erin Fesmire, SAIC Alum
Ameenah R, Social Worker, Consultant
Katia Perez, Former museum employee
Emma Varano, Student Worker, Student
Yaz Nickols, SAIC Student
Ambrosine Mercer, member
Isabella V, Citizen
Suz driskill, student
Michael Rakowitz, Artist, Professor of Art Theory and Practice, Northwestern University
Grace Keebler, Student
Ray (Rachel) Madrigal, BFA
Olly Sladek
Ari Antos
Patrick Caswell, Supporter of the art institute
kelly chen, alumni
Amir Ali, Dad
Lauren Rivas
Latifa Alajlan
Zoe Nelles, Member
Zara Bangash
Doni Razo
Anna Martine Whitehead, Assistant Professor at SAIC
Sidra
Yasmine Kouli, Chicagoan and student
Kait Ripcho
Cassie Waldorf
Esmeralda Dorantes
Gabriela, Student
Eva Haque, UChicago Alum
Caitlin
Lark Lyra Hill, artist, SAIC alumni and employee
Imaan Tran, American Civic and Humanitarian Coalition
Corinne Cochran
Eli Peters
Sara S, SAIC Alumni
Lizi Breit, SAIC Alum
Benjamin Becker, Artist
Corey Allbritten
Shannon Mastey, UIC student
Jessica Wagner, Artist/Ph.D. Canidate
Kean O’Brien, Alumni of SAIC
Rhys Kaiser
Esme Ogiyama, Art teacher
Maria Luisa Conlon, SAIC Alumni
Jacqueline Valdez, AIC Member
L Williams, Chicago artist/patron
Nicholas Kinsella, Patron
Natasha Vos
Starkie kreuder
Sinead Cleary, SAIC Alumni
Georgia Hampton, Writer
Kevin Woodrow
Danie Nitardy, Social worker
Megan Grafe, Artist
Corinne Butta, SAIC Alumni
Sahsheem Davis
Ona Gleichman
Tatiana
Elenor Silva
Joshua With, Artist, AIC Member
Mohamad Kanaan, SAIC Alumni
Benjamin Javellana, AIC staff, SAIC alum, and artist
Bronwyn Kuehler, Former AIC Employee
Elise Schierbeek, SAIC Staff
Isabel Reidy, Alumni
Esteban Alarcón, Projectionist at the Gene Siskel Film Center
Nura Husseini-Yoon
Ayanna Woods
Eleanor Schichtel
Eva Koronios, University of Chicago
Ingrid Stimmler, Alumni
Marcelyn Cole
Marta Antonetti
Julia cuneen, Saic alumni, cps teacher
Catalina Carrasco, Student
Noha, University of Chicago
Gavin Farrow
Kaitlyn Wittig Menguc, SAIC MAAAP Alumna & Fellow, 2013
Amani Fawaz, Researcher and UChicago alum
K. Slater, SAIC Alum
Tori Parham
Leaf Silver, SAIC Alumni
shayda shevidi, grad student at uchicago
Unyimeabasi Udoh, Artist
Hannah
Sara Sukhun, SAIC Alumni
Isabella Favis
Leilani Hancock, SAIC
Kat, AIC Educator
Sara Heymann, Chicago Public Library
Alex