The interim director of Metro Arts has resigned. Paulette Coleman took over the city art department in May after last year’s chaotic grants cycle that left artists and arts nonprofits waiting months to receive grant money they were promised.
This fiscal year’s grant cycle is shaping up to be just as chaotic.
Before last year’s debacle, Metro Arts would distribute grant money in the late summer or early fall. This time around, it’s January, and grant proposals haven’t even been scored, let alone funded.
Coleman’s resignation means Metro Arts has to navigate a precarious situation without a leader.
Metro Arts has several constraints in figuring out how to distribute grant money this fiscal year: The agency is currently under a conciliation agreement with several other city departments, including Metro Legal, Metro Finance and Metro Human Relations. All these agencies have to sign off on a funding plan. It also needs to be approved by Metro Council.
But last week, hours before an important filing deadline, Metro Arts staff members say they sent the wrong draft of the grant funding plan to the other city agencies. They say they corrected the error, but that the plan still might need work before next Tuesday’s Metro Council meeting. If it’s not ready for Metro Council next week, that could lead to further funding delays.
Metro Arts has lost several high-profile staffers in the last year. In August, the agency lost its communications manager, its public art manager and its finance director. Coleman replaced previous Executive Director Daniel Singh, who resigned last June.
