Metro Arts Commission Meeting Summary - October 10, 2024
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Metro Arts Commission Meeting Summary - October 10, 2024
The Metro Arts Commission held a meeting on October 10, 2024, at 1:30 PM. The meeting opened with a land acknowledgement and included public comments, approval of minutes, reports from committees, a significant motion regarding the executive director, and several votes on public art projects and budgets.
Consent Calendar
- The minutes from the February and March meetings were approved without amendments, with minor corrections noted for the February minutes.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Councilwoman Joyce Styles (District, Chair of Arts, Parks, Libraries, and Entertainment Committee) addressed concerns about inadequate public notice for the grants committee meeting, which she said gave the appearance of impropriety. She expressed a desire to rebuild trust and called for policy changes. She also mentioned that the executive director had not been supportive of the meeting and referenced an IT malfunction that delayed the agenda posting.
- Councilman Jacob Coupin (District 19) expressed appreciation for the commission's work but encouraged longer lead times for public notice. He also asked for clarity on the status of Executive Director Singh, emphasizing the need to move forward.
- Alan Fay (arts administrator and percussionist, District 16) voiced support for individual artist grants and encouraged the commission to change bylaws if needed to continue funding Thrive. He also publicly supported the staff, describing the executive director as having "ignored or bullied" staff prior to his leave.
- Drew Ogle (National Repertory Theater) spoke about the positive impact of a METRO Arts grant, which funded the production of "The Color Purple," creating 54 paying jobs and drawing 4,000 attendees. He expressed gratitude for the commission's support.
- Lydia Yusuf (public comment) delivered an impassioned speech framing the privatization of Thrive funds as part of a historical pattern of white supremacy, arguing it would create barriers for BIPOC artists and reduce accountability.
- Christine Hall (public comment) emphasized that Thrive funding directly supports artists and must remain accessible, noting the demonstrable positive effects on the community.
- Ashley Badgeholder (public comment) referenced a Title VI report recommendation that the Arts Commission's funding model be approved by Metro Council to ensure equitable distribution. She noted that this has not been done since 2001 and called for updated rules and regulations.
- Nicole Williams (public comment) stressed the importance of adequate public notice, suggesting commissioners provide a buffer between agenda posting and meetings to avoid confusion.
- Daniel Jones (artist and administrator, Kindling Arts and Oz Arts Nashville) expressed gratitude for the previous day's meeting and raised concerns about the grants timeline, hoping for awards by July or August to avoid gaps in programming.
Discussion Items
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Public Art Committee Report (Commissioner West):
- Old Hickory Community Center Design Concept (Wings of Time): The committee recommended approval of the design by artist Gordon Huether. The design features suspended laser-cut acrylic herons with dichroic film. The motion passed unanimously.
- Bordeaux Gateway Project Artist Budget Increase: The committee recommended increasing the artist budget from $185,000 to $300,000 due to infrastructure complexities (N-DOT and T-DOT involvement). The motion passed.
- Celestial Falls (Donaldson Library) Budget Increase: The committee recommended increasing the artist budget by $76,845.48 to cover increased material and labor costs. The artist, Amber Lelly, used 28 vendors, 24 local to Nashville, and trained local artists in guilding. The motion passed.
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Grants and Funding Committee Report (Commissioner Jester):
- The committee discussed delaying the grant funding cycle, the status of mural artist payments, and options for the Thrive program. Commissioner Jester noted that any changes would be made in concert with Metro Council. No decisions were made; the committee is still gathering feedback.
- Commissioner Love emphasized that no decisions were made regarding Thrive or the grants process.
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Budget and Oversight Committee Report (Commissioner Watts):
- Commissioner Watts reported on meetings with HR, Legal, and Finance. She noted that the current FY24 budget is $5,461,700, while the requested FY25 budget is $13,653,400, more than double. She mentioned that FY25 is a flat budget year and that the budget questionnaire is due May 8, 2024.
- Staff member Christina Affote detailed that $10.6 million of the $13.6 million request is for operating and Thrive grants.
- Discussion included the expectation that grants may not always be fully funded, and the need for transparency in the budget process.
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Executive Director Status (Motion and Discussion):
- Commissioner Love made a motion to terminate Executive Director Daniel Singh, but later amended it to place him on administrative leave and begin searching for an interim director. The motion included administrative leave with pay.
- Several commissioners expressed concerns about due process and the need to hear from Director Singh before making a final decision, but acknowledged the urgency of providing leadership to staff.
- Staff members, including Darren Jackson (Communications Manager) and Ms. Davis, voiced support for an interim director, describing a leadership vacuum and the need for a "captain of the ship."
- The motion to place Director Singh on administrative leave and begin an interim search passed unanimously via roll call vote.
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Care Committee: Commissioner Harden was introduced as the new chair, committed to rebuilding trust through transparency and accountability.
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Communications Update: Darren Jackson reported on a new initiative to create promotional media packages for public art installations, utilizing Metro departments to minimize costs.
Key Outcomes
- Approved: Old Hickory Community Center design "Wings of Time" (unanimous).
- Approved: Bordeaux Gateway artist budget increase to $300,000.
- Approved: Celestial Falls artist budget increase by $76,845.48.
- Vote Failed: Motion to empower staffer Chris with budget authority (6 no, 1 abstention).
- Passed Unanimously: Motion to place Executive Director Singh on administrative leave and begin a search for an interim director.
- Directive: Commissioner Watts to work with HR to expedite the interim director appointment.
- Special Meeting: Scheduled for April 25, 2024, to discuss executive director-related matters.
Meeting Transcript
Order at 12 05. Like to welcome everyone here. Thank you all for being here. We are in a different location today, so I'm happy everyone found it and was able to be here on time. And we look forward to hearing from the people who we have in our audience. We do have a good agenda today. So we do have several things to discuss and some items to vote on. And so we're gonna go ahead and get started because I do want to respect people's times. Do we have um a land acknowledgement or no? If we don't, that's perfectly fine. Okay, let's do our land acknowledgement that we do. Metro Art stands and holds space on the unceded and sovereign lands of the Cherokee East, UT and Shawnee peoples who have stewarded for generations. Every community owes his existence and vitality to generations from around the world who contributed their energy to making 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 than generations that 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 move on to our public comment. As always, just know that the public is encouraged and invited to attend commission meetings and may seek and may make comments in person doing the designated time on the agenda. Um, as a reminder, the public comment period is limited to 20 minutes total. Comments are limited to two minutes per person. Persons wishing to provide comment on matters that are domained to items on the agenda must sign up prior to the beginning of the meeting on the sign-up sheet provided at the meeting. The opportunity to provide public comment is offered on a first come first served basis. At all meetings, the commissioner chairing the proceedings shall have the authority to manage limit the number of persons allowed to speak on any issue and to manage or limit such speakers' time. And so uh Vivian, do we have anyone on the list today? Yes, we have nine people. Okay, if you can call the first one up. So if we want to go ahead and get started, um, our first up is councilwoman Joyce Stiles. And can you make sure the mics and stuff, the other mic is on the thank you. Good afternoon. Thank you very much, Chair, for acknowledging me. Commissioners for your service. Um in addition to being a councilwoman, I'm also the chair of our soon-to-be Arts Parks Libraries and Entertainment Committee. So some of you have probably read today's article in the Nashville banner in regards to uh the meeting on Monday. So I just wanted to give a little context and and share how we got here. Before I read the email that I originally sent on Monday, I've spent a lot of time fighting for Metro Arts for Commissioners, for artists to be sure that we do the right thing as council members, making sure that Metro does the right thing. We voted last year to give an additional two million dollars specifically to this department because you've been underfunded for over 20 years, and you all have been making it work, but it's not right. So, with that, for me, everything that I do is about making sure we are being good to constituents and we're being good to artists. And with that in mind, on Monday morning, I received a phone call from a constituent to tell me at 7 a.m. they had gotten an alert from the Metro IT system saying that to Monday's meeting for the grants committee was happening at 12:30. It concerned them that they got their alert late. I thought it was concerning as well because we're trying to rebuild trust right now. We are trying to get people that haven't been paid to believe in us and trust that we're going to do the right thing moving forward. And the right thing moving forward is if we are giving the appearance of impropriety, we fix it. So I did ask, I will finish. Um I did ask that the commissioner who is chair of the grants committee. I did give Mr. Jester a call and ask if he would cancel the meeting. If he will not cancel but reschedule so that constituents felt better about timing. We did discover in this process there's an IT malfunction.
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