Metro Arts Commission August Meeting – August 15, 2024
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Metro Arts Commission August Meeting – August 15, 2024
The Metro Arts Commission held its regular monthly meeting on August 15, 2024, at 12:07 PM. The meeting was called to order after achieving quorum. Two new commissioners, Jesse Rosenbloom and Mayra Yu, were welcomed. The meeting focused on the conciliation agreement resolving a Title VI complaint, two public art design approvals, and updates on grants, policies, and staff transitions.
Consent Calendar
- The minutes of the July 18, 2024 meeting were approved with an amendment to add Commissioner Nichols Phillips to the attendance list. The motion carried unanimously.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Ashley Batchelder (Metro Human Relations Commission, MHRC) stated that the conciliation agreement finalized between Metro Arts, Metro Legal, MHRC, and complainants is a full resolution of the Title VI complaint, moving to a compliance and monitoring phase. She clarified the agreement does not endorse delaying or canceling any current fiscal year grants and objected to positioning the complaint as a reason for such outcomes. She encouraged the commission to build on previous work and not overhaul grants without consideration of past efforts.
- Ben Tran (new MHRC Chair) emphasized that the conciliation agreement does not prohibit Metro Arts from proceeding with the current grant cycle for operational or Thrive grants. He cited specific terms on page six of the agreement that direct Metro Legal and Metro Finance to identify a mechanism for distributing Thrive Light Grants, leaving criteria unaffected. He urged commissioners to trust the work already done and avoid delaying or canceling applications for this fiscal year.
Artist Spotlight
- Sean Witzel (playwright, actor, founder of Destiny Theater Experience) performed a spoken word piece titled "231" about incarceration and solitary confinement, inspired by his work at River Bend Maximum Security Institution. He also shared details of upcoming performances: a pre-show at Nashville Shakespeare Festival on September 14 and his direction of "Lightning Girl" at Dark Horse Theater on August 23–24.
Discussion Items
- Public Art Committee: Jessica Ingram presented two design proposals.
- Omari Booker design for Strobel House (Nashville's first permanent supportive housing) includes three-dimensional planters and murals incorporating themes of abundance, transformation, and safety. Community engagement involved Daybreak Arts and Room in the Inn. The proposal was approved unanimously (10–0).
- Creative Girls Rock (lead artist Alicia Bemarozic) design for the Z. Alexander Looby Community Center features a monumental mural honoring Looby and other civil rights figures. The budget covers only artist fees as Metro Arts provides materials and installation. Approved unanimously (10–0).
- Public Art Exhibition Update: The lending library exhibition at Nashville Public Library displayed 113 artworks with a total purchase amount of $61,045 and an average purchase price raised from $661 to $2,000. The exhibition runs until August 16.
- Staff Resignations: Public Art Manager Jessica Ingram and Communications Manager Darren Jackson announced their resignations, effective after the meeting. Both were thanked for their contributions.
- Grants and Funding Committee: Commissioner Jester reported that the conciliation agreement establishes a working group independent of the grants committee to find a legal mechanism for Thrive-like grants to individual artists. Deadlines: working group to identify options by October 29, 2024, present recommendations by January 6, 2025, draft legislation by February 25, 2025, and submit by April 1, 2025. For operating grants, a robust community engagement plan is due by October 15, 2024, and new policies by January 6, 2025. Jester stressed the need to move quickly and carefully. Attorney Tyler Yarbrough clarified the working group focuses on mechanisms, not policy decisions, and the conciliation agreement does not require discarding past work.
- Care Committee: Commissioner Lefkowitz reported the committee is developing a definition of equity and will engage the community to use it as a living document for evaluating proposals. Commissioners are invited to attend meetings.
- Budget and Oversight Committee: Commissioner Watts reported the committee is reviewing existing policies and procedures, including administrative and human resource issues, to ensure the commission has proper oversight. The committee plans to present findings over the next six months.
- Nominating Committee: Commissioner Wade reported the committee is developing a slate of officers (chair, vice chair, secretary) for the next term. A special meeting in late September will be called to vote on the slate. Chair Love clarified she completed a term and is not resigning; officers will remain in place until new ones are elected.
- Interim Director's Report: Dr. Coleman announced that two new commissioners, Gila Khalil and Sean Knight, will be confirmed on August 20, bringing the commission to 15 members. She highlighted a planned retreat for commissioners, a request for all managers to submit summary reports by August 23 for an annual report (last done in 2022), and policies/procedures documents by August 31. She summarized the conciliation agreement, noting that Thrive grants grew from $250,000 to $900,000 in FY24, placing Nashville in the top tier nationally, but state law requires a new legal mechanism. The working group will meet biweekly. She also announced recruitment for staff vacancies.
- Resignation: Chris Sofote, Finance and Operations Director, stated his resignation, effective after the meeting.
Key Outcomes
- Design approvals: Both public art proposals (Strobel House and Looby Community Center) were approved unanimously.
- Grants timeline: The commission accepted the conciliation agreement's deadlines: working group to deliver options by October 29, 2024; operating grant community engagement plan by October 15, 2024; new grant policies by January 6, 2025.
- Nominating committee: A special meeting in September will be called to elect new officers for the commission.
- Staff directives: All managers must submit portfolio summaries by August 23 and policy/procedure documents by August 31 to support the annual report and committee review.
- Retreat planning: Dr. Coleman will schedule a 3–4 hour Saturday retreat for all commissioners, pending availability.
- Public art exhibition: The lending library exhibition continues through August 16, with increased average artist payment as a key metric.
The meeting adjourned at 1:34 PM.
Meeting Transcript
All right, good afternoon, everybody. Thank you for your patience. Um, if you are in the audience, you know that parking was a little bit difficult, and so we were trying to find parking to make sure that we had our commissioners here and we had quorum. We do have um eight people here now, and so we are excited that we have made our quorum, and I do want to call our August meeting to order. It is now 1207. Um again, I want to welcome um everyone here. We do have uh a new commissioner with us. Um her first meeting. I would just give her a moment just to say hello, her name, and um, yeah, who she is, or anything she wants to say about herself before we get started. And make sure you hit the green button so we can all hear. Yes, okay. Wow, never done that before. Okay, I'm my name is Jesse Rosenbloom, and um I'm just very honored to be here. I've been involved with the national art community for several years, so I'm just excited to uh be part of it. Thank you. All right, thank you, Commissioner, and welcome. We are so excited to have you here. All right, we will do our land acknowledgement now, as we always do before our meetings and our um our committee meetings, and I'll just read it. Metro Art stands in whole space on the unceded and sovereign lands of the TRKEs, UT and Shawani peoples who have stored it for generations. Every community owes this existence and vitality to generations from around the world to who contributed their energy to make in the history that led to this moment. Some were brought here against their will, some were drawn to leave their distant homes in the hope of a better life, and some have lived on this land for more generations than can be counted. We acknowledge we are all standing on ancestral lands, and we honor the thousands of enslaved African peoples whose lives were physically and spiritually stolen. We pay respects to elders, past and present. Metro Arts invites you to join in our commitment to knowing our native communities in more meaningful ways in alignment with our restorative arts practice. All right, now we will have public comment. Um as a reminder. Yes, as a reminder, public comment is limited to two minutes with 20 minutes total for the entirety of our public comment period. Um you will have needed to sign in prior to the meeting. Um I'll ask um Ms. Vivian now. Do we have any uh people for public comment? We do, we have two. Okay. The first one is Miss Ashley Batchelder. And I'll let you know when your two minutes starts, and then I'll let you know when you are at your one minute mark. Hold on one second. All right, and your time starts now. Uh good afternoon, everyone. I'm Ashley Batchelder with the Metro Human Relations Commission. Last week we finalized a conciliation agreement between Metro Arts, Metro Legal, MHRC, and the complainants who filed a complaint with us last year. This serves as a full resolution of the Title VI complaint. And though we technically label this complaint as now resolved, it means that we now move into a compliance and monitoring phase of the Title VI process. Uh, you received from me yesterday a copy of the agreement and an explanation of its seven main points or terms. I'm here with the chair of the MHRC, and we're happy to answer any questions or be in dialogue with you about it today or any time as we move forward. What I wanted to comment about and just be very clear about is that we don't want this agreement to be viewed as either a tacit or explicit like endorsement of canceling or delaying any grants for the current fiscal year. And I will respectfully um object to any conclusions that position the Title VI complaint as the reason for either of those outcomes or similar outcomes. And as you know, uh we've been deep in the weeds with you all about this over the last year, and I hope that this body sees MHRC as a resource and not a detractor to the work that you um are working to accomplish together. And so to that end, uh I look forward to continuing to work with you all. And as described in the agreement, we have one more conciliation meeting with the MHRC, the Arts Commission, and the complainants, which is specifically focused on policy changes that were adopted from fall 2022 through 2023. And I understand from watching committee meetings that you are likely to propose a reset or a change or an overhaul of the grant programs, but I hope that this isn't done in a way that's a disservice to all of the work that current and previous commissioners' staff and community members have done in those policies.
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