BUFFALO, NY (WKBW) — A Buffalo art organization is being accused of sending an antisemitic statement to an Orthodox Jewish school in Amherst.
Some Erie County lawmakers want to see further action saying Locust Street Art has received thousands of dollars in county funding over the years.
“I've got to be honest with you, I was completely shocked,” stated Chris Greene, republican legislator, Erie County Legislature. “They coin themselves art for all and therefore it is shocking and disappointing.”
A social media post by an off-site instructor of Locust Street Art has set off claims of antisemitism.
The Jewish Heritage Day School on Audubon Parkway in Amherst asked to partner with the art organization, but instead, it received a message that Locust Street could "not in good consciousness work with a pro-Israel organization that supports ongoing genocide in Palestine."
"She had stated it had to do with the conflict between Israel and Hamas, and in the end, there is no mention of Israel or Hamas on this school's website. The only thing that it mentions is that they're Jewish, so it is very clearly antisemitic in nature as far as why they were rejected for partnership,” remarked Greene.
Legislator Greene sent a letter to the art organization and is outraged at its rejection of the school.
Erie County has provided tens of thousands in funding to the organization, including more than $34,000 just this year.
“They've received a lot of money from Erie County and such we're expecting both personal and financial responsibilities to come with that, which means they need to act certainly within federal guidelines and Title VII seems to be ignored here based on the fact, that again, they were rejected for their faith,” responded Greene.
"Do you believe they should be penalized for this?” Buckley asked. “I do believe that the first steps are to receive some type of action plan and because right now this has gone on behind the scenes for almost a week, and we haven't heard of any action plan moving forward to make sure this doesn't happen again,” Greene replied. “We are not going to fund organizations that are non-profit and act politically, particularly on international and discriminatory manners.”
Locust Street Art issued a statement that reads in part the communication "does not reflect the values, policies or sentiments of locust street art" and that they realized they made a "serious error" The statement includes an apology saying it would be "deeply wrong" to deny art access to the school and was "profusely" apologizing.
The StopAntisemitism organization tells 7 News it was the first to report the response from the art organization. StopAntisemitism said it is "a grassroots watchdog organization dedicated to exposing groups and individuals that espouse incitement towards the Jewish people and State and engage in antisemitic behaviors."
I did learn board members were meeting on Thursday to discuss the issue, but a board member declined my request for an interview.
I did reach out to school leadership for comment, but Thursday marks a Jewish holiday and the school is closed.
The Buffalo Jewish Federation declined to comment on this matter.
Legislator Greene tells me he would like to see “disciplinary action” taken against the employee.
In a statement to 7 News Thursday evening, the Board of Directors of Locust Street Art confirmed that the employee who made the statement is no longer with the organization.
The full statement can be seen below:
For over 65 years, Locust Street has prided itself on being a welcoming and inclusive space for all members of our community and has existed to serve marginalized populations within the City of Buffalo and beyond.
We are aware of the recent and very disturbing incident in which a Jewish community school was denied access to Locust Street Art’s services based on a misguided and inaccurate assumption regarding its affiliations and values. This decision was made without the knowledge or involvement of the Board of Directors and was wholly inconsistent with the policies and values of our organization.
As soon as members of the Board were made aware of this serious issue, we directed the Executive Director to retract the decision. She also issued a sincere and unqualified apology to the school. The Program Coordinator who communicated the decision to the school also apologized for this serious lapse in judgment and joins in the Executive Director’s apology. We hope that the school, the public, and our supporters will accept these apologies. We also recognize that this is only the beginning of the process.
The Board has already taken several steps to ensure that nothing like this happens in the future. The Program Coordinator is no longer employed by the organization, and we have instituted a policy that a denial of services is never permitted unless it has been vetted and approved by the Board. We also will require our Executive Director and all other staff to undergo additional diversity, equity, and inclusion training. The Board will also participate in these trainings.
Finally, we have postponed the Annual Art Show, which was scheduled for June 22nd. Taking this step back will allow us time to reflect and continue to discuss any other steps we need to take to ensure accountability, attempt to correct the harm that has been done, and prevent something like this from ever happening again.
7 News received the following statement from the former coordinator who reached out to us with her side of the story:
"Hello, my name is Morgan Arnett. Up until recently, I was working as the Program Coordinator for a local non-profit art education center, Locust Street Art. As I am no longer employed by Locust Street Art, I would like to attempt to clarify some possible misinformation regarding the recent events surrounding Locust Street Art and the Ohr Temimim school.
I worked for Locust Street Art for just over a year, teaching art classes both onsite and out in the community. In that capacity, I served a diverse population in several settings throughout the Buffalo area such as assisted living centers, family service centers, refugee centers, community centers, the Erie County Correctional Facility, and others. In my role as an art instructor, I was fully committed to honoring, respecting, and uplifting my students.
A few weeks ago, I was promoted to a Program Coordinator position in which I was responsible for coordinating off-site programming. To be clear, this position has nothing to do with determining who attends any type of classes, workshops, or art camps at Locust Street Art; Locust Street Art has always provided free and low-cost art classes for the community, and is open to all. My role was to maintain and cultivate professional relationships with other organizations in our community.
Recently, I was emailed by an employee of the Ohr Temimim school, and we began a conversation that extended over the next few weeks, about setting up programming. I felt like we got along well, and I was very excited to set up a new opportunity for both Locust St and Ohr Temimim.
It was not until after we had worked together in planning programming that (while reading more about the school on their website) I first saw the affiliation between Ohr Temimim and the Buffalo Jewish Federation, which has explicitly vocalized support for the state of Israel over the last several months.
Having seen the events in Palestine over the last few months, such as the attack on the Rafah refugee camp and the rising death toll of Palestinian civilians including thousands of children, I believed that the best thing for Locust Street Art would be to not enter into partnership with any organization connected to The Buffalo Jewish Federation while emotions are running so high amidst these events. At the same time, I knew that this was a very complicated situation, and wanted to make sure that this was the correct position to take before I sent anything, as I did not wish to overstep my bounds and speak for Locust Street Art. I, therefore, went to management to make sure this was an appropriate message to send and received clear approval of the email before I sent it.
In hindsight, I can see that I neglected to make my reasoning clear in the email, and I profusely apologize for the understandable misinterpretation of my words. Jewish people have faced centuries of violence and discrimination for nothing more than their ethnic and religious identities and I never meant to imply that Ohr Temimim had done anything wrong simply for being a Jewish school. Being Jewish has nothing to do with supporting the state of Israel, and my position was purely in response to the statements of the Buffalo Jewish Federation. I was trying to stand up for what I believe is right and acted with only the best intentions.
I only wish that I had expressed myself better in the email and had made it clear whose support I was referring to, and that just because we were ending a professional partnership with their organization, it in no way meant that their students or teachers would ever not be welcome at Locust Street Art. I also wish the email had been scrutinized more internally before it went out to avoid misinterpretation.
I love, support, and stand by the Jewish community wholeheartedly just as much as the Palestinian people; the actions of the state of Israel in no way represent the Jewish community as a whole and that was never my suggestion. I hope anyone hurt by the aforementioned message can understand I never meant to cause any harm."
Morgan Arnett
