Last week, the Metro Arts Commission announced it will give out grant money to artists and arts nonprofits before the end of the 2024-25 fiscal year in June.
That’s after two months of confusion. In August, a member of the commission announced plans to cancel the current grant funding cycle. Last year’s grantmaking went so dramatically wrong that some board members and staff wanted a full year to overhaul the process.
Commissioner Tim Jester says the reversal of course is happening for two reasons. First, he’s heard loud and clear condemnation from the arts community.
“A couple of months ago we talked about the potential of canceling grant applications and starting over again,” he said. “And I want to acknowledge publicly that we have heard overwhelmingly that that would be the wrong thing to do.”
And second, a lawyer for the Metro government says that, because Nashville gave Metro Arts a grants budget this year, the agency has a fiduciary duty to give out that money.
But several steps remain. A funding formula and scoring procedure need approval from Metro Legal as well as input from the community. A plan for the Thrive program, which funds individual artists and projects, needs to go through the same process. Finally, the Metro Arts Board and then Metro Council must sign off on both plans.
It’s unclear how long all these steps will take. On top of that, Metro Arts says grant payments will be — at most — half as much as they were last year, due to a smaller pot of money and more applicants than ever.
On Air - 90.3 WPLN-FM