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When will Metro Arts grant recipients be paid? Details remain murky

Stacy IrvinCourtesy Metro Nashville Arts Commission
Stix by artist Christian Moeller is one of many public artworks commissioned by Metro Arts. Right to left: Nashville residents Emily Harper Beard, Avett Otis Beard, and Chuck Beard spend time among Stix in the middle of Korean Veterans Boulevard Roundabout.
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It’s been a week since Nashville’s Finance Director, Kevin Crumbo, announced that he’ll take charge of paying the arts community the grant money promised them by Metro Arts in 2023. This plan is meant to resolve months of delays and disputes over the amounts each artist and arts organization will receive. But Crumbo has not given a timeline for the payments, or explained how Metro Arts will be involved in the process. 

Until the 2023 grants are paid, Metro Arts staff and commissioners say they’re putting the upcoming grant review cycle on hold. That affects a record number of artists and organizations who applied for funding back in January. 

Moreover, Crumbo is hesitant to fund the next round of grants, saying he lacks confidence in Metro Arts leadership. And Mayor Freddie O’Connell has said there may not be additional money to accommodate the higher number of applicants. 

“(Fiscal year) ’25 is not going to be a year where we look to increase investments in much. We know that it’s going to be a tight year at the end of the revenue cycle,” he said.

That could mean a repeat of last year’s funding cycle — a contentious battle over limited resources.

Read more: Metro Arts funding delays, debates over equity leave some Nashville arts organizations struggling

Complicating things further is uncertainty about Executive Director Daniel Singh’s ability to lead Metro Arts. Singh is away on medical leave, and has had a rocky relationship with his staff and other Metro Departments. At a Metro Arts Commission meeting on Thursday, two commissioners openly discussed replacing him.

Alongside these concerns is a mounting legal battle between Metro Arts and two other city departments: Metro Legal and the Metro Human Relations Commission (MHRC). Earlier this month, the MHRC ruled that the 2023-24 Metro Arts grant funding formula amounted to illegal discrimination against some artists. That formula came after Metro Legal rejected an earlier, more racially equitable proposal last summer, saying it could lead to challenges based on recent U.S. Supreme Court decision against affirmative action. The MHRC is planning a public hearing to decide what to do about their finding of discrimination. No date has been set for the hearing, in part because the department wants to avoid hashing out the dispute in public. Outside lawyers for Metro Arts, Metro Legal and the MHRC plan to meet first and attempt a conciliation process between the departments.

Char Daston

Char Daston is a reporter and newscast writer for WPLN. Char got his start in public radio as an intern at WYSO public radio in Yellow Springs, Ohio, where he answered questions sent in by listeners for a program called WYSO Curious. He went on to work at St. Louis Public Radio and WBEZ Chicago, where he produced the daily talk show Reset and reported for the education desk. His work has also appeared in Curious City, Chicago Magazine and the Chicago Sun-Times. A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Char attended college and grad school at the University of Chicago, where he wrote his master’s thesis on the politics of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. As a journalist, he is interested in the ways big political decisions and historical events shape our everyday lives. He loves to learn about education, the arts, activism and the ways people help one another. Unable to settle on one creative project, Char enjoys writing poetry, plays and video essays in his spare time. You’ll likely find him rushing to choir rehearsal or seeking out Nashville’s best Thai and Korean food.

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