Chaos at Thursday’s Metro Arts Commission meeting set off a ticking time bomb that could lead to the city agency having two competing directors.  

Commissioners seemed poised to fire Executive Director Daniel Singh. He took medical leave in February after his icy relationship with staff, as well as allegations of a deficit in the department’s budget, were made public. Today, Arts Commissioner Beverly Watts confirmed that deficit and revealed that it was much larger than originally thought — over $1.1 million. 

At its meeting in April, the commission appointed housing activist and former Arts Commission chair Paulette Coleman to take over as interim executive director.

“People need to have confidence in us. People need to trust and believe that we are going to do what’s right and that we’re going to do it as excellently as possible and in a manner that is inclusive of all,” Coleman said Thursday.

As for the current director, before a motion to fire him was entertained, Commissioner Beverly Watts left for the airport. That left the meeting without a quorum, so the commission was unable to conduct any official business. 

If no action is taken between now and the end of the month, when Singh’s paid leave runs out, Singh and Coleman could be executive directors at the same time. 

Artists still waiting to be paid

One ongoing crisis not addressed at the meeting: arts organizations, and some independent artists, are still waiting for half of the money they received in last year’s grant cycle.

In March, Nashville’s finance director Kevin Crumbo took over the Metro Arts budget and vowed to pay all the grantees by the end of May. Neither Metro Arts or Metro Finance have released updates this week on whether they will meet that deadline.