The Metro Arts commission voted Thursday to place the department’s executive director, Daniel Singh, on paid administrative leave. The vote was without dissent, with seven of the 12 commissioners present.
Singh has been out of office on medical leave since late February. At the latest commission meeting, several staff members said they feel the lack of leadership hinders their ability to do their jobs. The staff asked for an interim director to be appointed, and the commission agreed to begin searching for one.
This escalates existing tensions within the department. Even before his medical leave, Singh’s relationship with staff was rocky.
Sydnie Davis, Metro Arts strategic grants and initiatives manager, said she was never given a proper understanding of her job duties, including when Singh was still there.
“I don’t know, in any (other) job that I have ever been at, that the job duties were not extremely clear and able to discussed by leadership at the drop of a pin,” she said.
Arts Commissioner Tim Jester motioned to fire Singh, but was unable to get another commissioner to second the motion.
“Director Singh’s effectiveness as an organizational leader has diminished past the point of reconciliation,” Jester said.
Commissioner Dawana Wade thought firing Singh was premature, but agreed with Jester that the relationship between the staff and the director was “irreparable.”
Singh has said he is on medical leave because racism he has faced within the Metro government has affected his health. He also says Metro Arts staff has been “weaponized” against him by Metro Legal. Metro Arts staff and Metro Legal have publicly denied that claim.
Some in the arts community say they support Singh and want him reinstated. Arts Equity Nashville is a collective of artists and activists who filed a complaint to the Metro Human Relations Commission (MHRC) in September. That ultimately led to an MHRC finding that the Metro Arts 2023 grant funding formula was discriminatory against some artists. This week, Arts Equity Nashville started an online petition to reinstate Singh. The organization feels he was the first Metro Arts leader to seriously pursue racially equitable grant funding.
“Director Singh’s leadership aligns with the community’s vision and persistent call for equity. We recognize his humanity. We notice how he has reached out to members of the community who were overlooked before, and listened. We witness the pushback to this,” they wrote.
The petition had just over 100 signatures as of Thursday afternoon.
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