Since February, Nashville’s Finance Director Kevin Crumbo has refused to distribute about $2 million of city money designated for Metro Arts. The money will go to artists and arts organizations that have been waiting months to receive about half of the funding they were promised by the city in 2023. Crumbo says he doesn’t trust the arts department to handle it responsibly.
More: Metro Arts funding delays, debates over equity leave some Nashville arts organizations struggling
On Monday, a group of Metro Councilmembers took a side in the feud between Finance and Arts, demanding that Crumbo hand over the money immediately. At a news conference Monday morning, District 32 Councilmember Joy Styles said artists shouldn’t suffer because of in-fighting between city departments.
“Whatever else is happening internally can be handled after our artists are addressed first. That should be our priority,” Styles said.
Councilmembers Terry Vo, Jacob Kupin, Ginny Welsch and Brenda Gadd joined Styles at the news conference in support of her message. And at a specially called meeting of the Metro Arts Commission Monday afternoon, Councilmember Jennifer Frensley Webb voiced her support as well.
“I’m one of the conservative people on the Council,” Webb said during the public comment period. “We have to lay our party lines aside sometimes and say, ‘We were taught right and wrong.’ And today, do the right thing and release the funds to the artists.”
Crumbo has said he is withholding the funds because he believes the arts department has overspent and could run a deficit by the end of the year. The city auditor is currently investigating Metro Arts’ finances and procedures. The department also faces a finding from the Metro Human Relations Commission that its 2023 funding formula discriminated against some artists, and a workplace misconduct complaint filed by Metro Arts employees.
It is unclear whether any of these three investigations factor into Crumbo’s decision to withhold the money. Crumbo’s office has not yet responded to an email and a phone call from WPLN News requesting comment.
At Monday afternoon’s special meeting of the Metro Arts Commission, Luther Wright, an attorney in private practice hired by Metro Legal to investigate the workplace misconduct complaint, revealed some of his findings. Wright found Metro Arts Executive Director Daniel Singh in violation of two Metro codes — one for threatening an HR complaint against an employee who asked questions, and the other for telling staff not to talk to the media and other Metro departments. However, he also found that other complaints against Singh did not meet the definition of workplace misconduct.
Char Daston WPLNLawyer Luther Wright testifies before the Metro Arts Commission in March 2024. Wright conducted a workplace misconduct investigation based on complaints from Metro Arts employees.
“I talked in my report about a chaotic workplace and noted that some of the chaos in (Metro Arts) existed well before Director Singh ever became employed by Metro,” Wright said. “There are concerns and criticisms about whether he fixed those issues, made them better or made them worse … That’s a conversation that commissioners need to have outside the scope of this investigation.”
Singh has been out-of-office for the past two weeks. He has also applied for FMLA, which is federally mandated medical leave. Singh is making arrangements with Metro HR to return to work. Still, the relationship between the director and the staff remains shaky after Singh accused his employees of being “weaponized” by other city departments against him.
More: Embattled Metro Arts director takes leave amid swirl of investigations
At the meeting, Metro Arts Finance and Operations Director Christiana Afotey denounced the idea that staff had been “weaponized.”
Addressing her Metro Arts colleagues, she said, “I see you, while facing intimidation, libel, attacks on your reputation. I see your persistent dedication to advocating for local artists.”
A number of issues remain unclear:
- when Metro Finance Director Crumbo will release the $2 million to Metro Arts,
- when Singh will return to work,
- how Singh will repair his relationship with staff,
- what funding formula Metro Arts will use to distribute the $2 million, which is still not enough for everyone who was promised money in 2023
For artists and arts organizations, the wait for funds continues, with no end in sight.
Update: This story has been updated to include the name of one additional council member who attended the news conference in support of releasing the funds: Brenda Gadd.
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