As Christian artists, Joanna Duka (now Joanna De La Cruz) and Breanna Koski had a simple goal: to recreate the beauty God has placed all around us and to share that with others. This goal made it natural for Joanna and Breanna to focus on artwork for weddings, one of the most beautiful days in someone’s life.
But this focus on weddings drove Joanna and Breanna into a problem. A Phoenix law would have required them to create art expressing messages according to Phoenix’s definition of marriage. But thanks to their courage, they challenged this law and secured a victory for free speech.
Who are Joanna and Breanna?
Joanna and Breanna are two passionate, loving, gifted, and faithful women. Both are phenomenal artists.
In 2014, Joanna was laying the groundwork to open her own calligraphy business.
“Beautiful handwriting has been one of my passions since I was a little girl,” Joanna said. “As a teenager, I received my first calligraphy set and fell in love with dipping the pen in ink and creating thick and thin lines with the delicate nib.”
But as Joanna pursued this business endeavor, she felt a piece was missing: painting.
She later met Breanna, a painter, at a church Bible study. The two quickly became friends and connected over art.
In early 2015, they decided to work together, and Brush & Nib Studio was born.
The two young women co-owned the upscale hand-painting, hand-lettering, and calligraphy company. They created and sold custom artwork—paintings, prints, business logos, wedding invitations, and more—for clients and their special events, especially weddings.
Joanna and Breanna are Christians, and their faith is at the core of who they are and everything they do.
“We have a love and a passion for art and weddings, and there’s such a beautiful picture in marriage of Christ and His love for the Church,” Breanna said. “We were told growing up we could live authentically to who we are and we could be whatever we wanted to be … We believe that artists should be able to be free to create in accordance with their beliefs.”
Joanna and Breanna Celebrate Marriage Through Their Art
Joanna and Breanna would custom design, draw, paint, and write vows, invitations, and signs for weddings. Every one of their wedding invitations contained language celebrating the marriage (e.g., “invite you to the celebration of their marriage” or “invite you to share in the joy of their marriage”).
Soon after they launched Brush & Nib, however, Joanna and Breanna learned about a Phoenix law that would force them to violate their religious beliefs or face severe punishments.
According to city officials, this law required them to create artwork promoting events and messages that went against their faith, including same-sex marriages. The law even prohibited them from explaining that they could only create artwork consistent with their religious beliefs.
Joanna and Breanna faced up to six months in jail, $2,500 in fines, and three years of probation for each day that they violated this law.
That left Joanna and Breanna with an impossible choice. They didn’t want to face the punishments breaking this law threatened, but they also didn’t want to close the business they had worked so hard to launch.
The alternative wasn’t doable. They could not invest themselves in imagining and hand-creating artwork expressing messages that contradict who they are and what they believe.
Brush & Nib gladly served everyone, regardless of their sexual orientation, and they created art for many different occasions. But Joanna & Breanna could not promote an event that violated their beliefs.
So Joanna and Breanna took the only viable option left. They sought the help of Alliance Defending Freedom, and in May 2016, ADF filed a lawsuit on the studio’s behalf against the City of Phoenix.
“Breanna and I have loved art since we were little girls, and creating this business was a dream for us. So when we came up against this Phoenix law that was threatening us with jail time, we were extremely concerned and had to stand up,” Joanna said.
Phoenix Would Have Forced Joanna and Breanna to Violate Their Faith
Thankfully, in America, you don’t have to wait for an unjust and unconstitutional law to be used against you in order to seek relief. Alliance Defending Freedom filed a “pre-enforcement challenge” (a challenge to a law before it is enforced) on Brush & Nib’s behalf.
Brush & Nib Studio challenged Phoenix’s attempt to use the ordinance to compel Joanna and Breanna to create art expressing messages that violated their religious beliefs, but this is not the only law of its kind. ADF has defended creative professionals against similar laws in Colorado, New York, Kentucky, Minnesota, and New Mexico.
The lawsuit alleged that Phoenix was violating Joanna, Breanna, and Brush & Nib’s rights under the Arizona Constitution and the Arizona Free Exercise of Religion Act by compelling them to create art expressing messages they object to and by stopping them from explaining how their beliefs impact the artwork they create.
“We serve all people,” Joanna said. “We just can’t express every message through our artwork.”
Arizona Supreme Court Upholds Joanna and Breanna’s Freedom of Speech
The lawsuit asked the court to give Joanna and Breanna the freedom to create artwork consistent with their religious beliefs and to explain how those beliefs impact their artwork.
After two lower courts held that the government could imprison artists for politely declining to express messages that violate their beliefs, the artists appealed to the Arizona Supreme Court.
In September 2019, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that Joanna and Breanna have a right to run their business in accordance with their beliefs and cannot be compelled by the government to speak messages or celebrate events that go against their faith.
The court explained that it has “always recoiled at those governments and societies that repress or compel ideas or religious beliefs.” It also reaffirmed that “an individual has autonomy over his or her speech and thus may not be forced to speak a message he or she does not wish to say.”
Once the Arizona Supreme Court ruled in their favor, Joanna and Breanna were thrilled to be able to continue creating beautiful art that expresses messages consistent with their beliefs without the threat of fines and jail time.
Brush & Nib Studio v. City of Phoenix was a landmark win for the freedom of speech and has since been cited in judicial opinions across the country, including at the U.S. Supreme Court. Thankfully, in 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a definitive ruling protecting the free speech of artists in 303 Creative v. Elenis. In that case, ADF represented graphic artist Lorie Smith in challenging a Colorado law that was similar to Phoenix’s. The ruling in Joanna and Breanna’s case played a crucial role in shaping our arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in Lorie’s case.
After winning the lawsuit, Joanna and Breanna provided wedding services but had to eventually close their small business after Joanna began working in a new field.
Joanna and Breanna’s Victory for Religious Freedom and Freedom of Speech
“The government shouldn’t be telling artists what they can and can’t say,” Breanna said. She’s right.
The government shouldn’t threaten artists with fines and jail time to force them to create art expressing messages that violate their beliefs. Thankfully, the Arizona Supreme Court agreed, and freedom is more secure today because of Joanna and Breanna’s courage.
If we exercise our religious freedom and stand firm when it is tested, it has the potential not only make an impact on earth but might even make an eternal one.
Would you stand with us today as we continue advocating for free speech and religious freedom?
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