Statement from Cranbrook President Aimeclaire Roche

November 1, 2025

Dear Cranbrook Community,  
 
We wish to make you aware of concerns regarding student work in one of our Academy of Art departments, and pictures of that student work, which were shared on a social media channel associated with our painting department.   
 
The series of artworks includes a portrait of Yahya Sinwar. As an institution, Cranbrook Educational Community strongly condemns the individual depicted in this portrait for his abhorrent actions.  
 
This portrait was created and presented in the educational studio environment at the Academy of Art. Consistent with our established governance, students have the freedom of academic and creative expression within studio spaces and in educational settings.  
 
A picture of this portrait was subsequently posted to the painting department’s social media account along with many other works of students as part of a series of posts covering the “studio critiques process”.
 
Consistent with our protocol for situations where a student’s academic or artistic work is offensive to members of our community, Cranbrook’s leadership has met with community members, Academy leadership, faculty, and the student at the Academy to address the issue and discuss the impact that the work had on some in the community. 
 
We appreciate your support as we follow our established protocol for these situations, which is grounded in our mission and values as an educational community and our commitment to providing a respectful learning environment for all community members. 

Please contact Vijay Iyer, Cranbrook Chief Communications Officer, for any inquiries (viyer@cranbrook.edu).

Sincerely,

Aimeclaire Roche, President
Cranbrook Educational Community