Metro Arts Board of Commission Special Called Meeting - October 10, 2024
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Metro Arts Board of Commission Special Called Meeting – October 10, 2024
The Metro Arts Board of Commission held a specially called meeting on October 10, 2024, at 12:05 PM. The primary focus was on the status of Executive Director Daniel Singh, who is on continuous FMLA, and the selection of an interim director. After public comment and extensive deliberation, the commission clarified Singh's administrative leave and voted to appoint Dr. Paulette Coleman as interim executive director, subject to HR negotiation.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Will Schutz (National Opera) expressed that the arts community has lost confidence in Metro Arts due to Director Singh making promises without a plan, turning the community into a "circular firing squad." He called for restored confidence before advocating for more funding.
- Damone Boyd urged the commission to tell the truth about Director Singh's ineptitude, claiming he failed to respond to Tennessee Arts Commission outreach and attempted to redirect mural funds. She stated it was time for Singh to move on and emphasized equity in funding and practice.
- Lydia Yusuf defended Director Singh, criticizing the commission and staff for what she described as bullying and a lack of solidarity. She accused white commissioners of using staff to defund the arts and questioned the proposal to privatize grants.
- Craig Robinson (Party for Socialism and Liberation) characterized the conflict as class war, accusing the "arts oligarchy" and Metro Law's Wallace Deets of limiting possibilities for artists. He called on artists to fight back.
Discussion Items
- Chair Love opened the meeting with a required notice about appeal rights per Metro Code.
- Commissioner Watts reported on meetings with HR, Finance, and Legal regarding Director Singh's FMLA status. Singh is on continuous FMLA (about 9 of 12 weeks used). Administrative leave with pay was placed on the April 18 motion, but the commission needed to clarify whether it runs concurrently with FMLA. HR advised that concurrent leave preserves Singh's sick/vacation accruals. Debate ensued about the length of administrative leave and whether to terminate Singh.
- Commissioner Jester made a motion to place Director Singh on paid administrative leave concurrent with FMLA until two weeks after his FMLA period ends. Commissioner Wade expressed concern about the leadership vacuum and the need for information from Singh, but others, including Commissioner Lefkowitz, stated no information would change their view that Singh is a bad leader. Jesse Ross (Public Art Coordinator) gave an impassioned defense of Singh, stating the chaos began after July and that Singh prioritized equity; he called the situation scapegoating.
- Interim director selection: Three candidates were proposed: Mary Beth Harding (former Nashville Community Education Commission executive director), James Thrillkill (DEI consultant and artist), and Dr. Paulette Coleman (former Arts Commission chair and developer of Thrive). Commissioner Watts moved to hire Dr. Coleman, delegating employment terms to HR/Finance. After discussion about vetting and job descriptions, the motion passed. Commissioner West and others expressed discomfort with the rushed process.
- Chair Love acknowledged receiving a letter from Singh's attorney that day and apologized for mischaracterizing prior communication.
Key Outcomes
- Motion to clarify administrative leave – Passed with 6 in favor, 1 opposed, 2 abstentions. Director Singh remains on paid administrative leave concurrent with FMLA until two weeks after FMLA ends (estimated May 30, 2024, based on FMLA start).
- Motion to hire Dr. Paulette Coleman as interim executive director – Passed with 4 in favor, 3 opposed, 2 abstentions. (Legal clarified that the motion carried because the two abstentions did not count toward the majority requirement.) HR and Finance were delegated to negotiate terms and start date. Chair Love will coordinate communication with staff.
- Next steps: HR to contact Dr. Coleman to confirm acceptance and negotiate employment terms. Commission will receive an update on budget and finance issues at the next meeting (May 16, 2024). The Care Committee (Commissioner Hardin) continues meeting with staff.
- The commission did not terminate Director Singh at this meeting, and his status will be revisited after FMLA concludes.
Meeting Transcript
For Commissioner Hardin to come back before we get started. Thank you all for being here and your patience. Good afternoon, everyone. Again, thank you so much for being here. I am going to call the specially called meeting of the Metro Arts Board of Commission to order at 1205. Before we get started, I do just want to just do roll call really quickly, just to make sure that we have everyone who is here and just make sure that we have established quorum. Chair Love is here. Commissioner Lepowitz. Commissioner Hardin. Commissioner Jester. Commissioner Neplin. Commissioner Wade. Commissioner Watts. Commissioner Wes. So absent is Commissioner Bell, Commissioner McCoy, and Commissioner Nicholas Phillips. All right. Oh, and Commissioner Kurtz. I've her name's right by mine. Yes. Okay. So thank you so much. We have established quorum. I do want to take the moment to again welcome everybody here. If you notice at our last commission meeting on the agenda, there was a note that was right above the agenda items. And I just want to just make a note of what that is, why that's there. We haven't been made aware that we needed to include this in all of our agenda items. And I'm just going to read that just this first time, just verbatim, just so everyone is aware of that and what that means and what that is. And so pursuant to provisions, section two 68030 of the Metro Code of Laws. Please take notice that decisions of the Arts Commission may be approved to the appeal to the Chancery Court of Davidson County for review under a common law writ of search or I always get that word messed up. Any appeal must be filed within 60 days after entry of a final decision by the commission. Any person or other entity considering an appeal should consult with an attorney to ensure that time and procedural requirements are met. Yes, we do. We have four. Yes, go ahead. All right. The first person we have is Will Schutz. And you can come to this podium here. And I'll let you know when your time starts. Good afternoon, Commissioners. My name is Will Schutz, and I am here with National Opera as the director of marketing and PR. The National Opera Art National Arts community, which is comprised of organizations and artists numbering in the thousands, who should be focused on the work of performing and dancing and singing and sculpting and painting and giving everyone in this city a broader access to the transformational power of art. This community's been turned into a circular firing squad. Because Daniel Singh made promises to everyone without a plan to honor those promises. As a result, many of us lost confidence in Metro Arts. Not someone who simply tells everyone what we want to hear and makes promises that cannot be kept. When confidence in Metro Arts is restored, we can all work together to advocate for more funding for the arts from Metro Council, which we've wanted to do all along. That's the work that we're looking forward to. Thank you. All right, next we have on the list, Ms. Damone Boyd.
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