Metro Arts Commission Issues Recommendations for Addressing Racial Discrimination Allegations

The Metro Arts Commission met Thursday to further discuss the looming concerns about discrimination and toxicity in the department, which is responsible for awarding city funding to arts and culture programming. It was a special meeting called by chair Jim Schmidt to address how to move forward based on the recommendations of Metro HR that were given in response to complaints filed by former staffers Cecilia Olusola Tribble and Lauren Fitzgerald. 

The commission voted on six recommendations. The first is the hiring of an “additional, outside consultant experienced in the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) field to work with agency staff in collaboration with the efforts already underway.” In the meeting, Schmidt noted that the Metro Arts Commission will choose the consultant with input from the commission’s own Committee for Antiracism and Equity, Metro chief diversity officer Andrea Blackman, Metro Arts’ manager of equity and restorative practices Natalie Alfaro Frazier and HR equity staff. 

The second recommendation is to continue collaboration with Blackman to lead internal conversations with the staff. Blackman and HR staffer Razel Jones prepared a document that was distributed at the meeting and summarizes their DEI engagement with the department since May. According to the summary, some engagement focused on staff welfare in regard to the Scene’s August investigation of discrimination in the department. Meetings have both been department-wide and specifically with people of color in the department “to gain more context on feelings concerning DEI work internally and externally at Metro Arts.” 

The commission recommends additional management and leadership training for all administrators in the department. HR furnished a description of various trainings available. Next, the commission plans to conduct “a specific review with Metro HR of the utilization of Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs) to ensure they are utilized appropriately.” The issue of PIPs has been central to complaints by staffers who claim that the memos have been used punitively to push staffers out of the agency. In August, director Caroline Vincent told the Scene that PIPs, which are used throughout Metro, are not punitive. Metro HR also recommended that PIPs include measurable goals and clear communication about how these can be met. 

The Metro Arts Commission will soon get a strategic planning process underway that includes a diverse roster of members from across the arts community — this process will include DEI evaluation and engagement. The commission voted to review progress on these actions in three months. 

“This list is a start,” says commission chair Jim Schmidt in a press release. “The [HR] reports may have found there was no violation of policy, rule or law, but that does not mean there was no harm done. We acknowledge that, and that’s part of the reason we are starting this process immediately and putting forth recommendations. This work will be ongoing.”

In the meeting, commissioner Paula Roberts said that the commission must also discuss how to make restitution for harm done to those who have made complaints, including former staffers. Vice chair Matia Powell acknowledged that the commission must work to gain the trust of the community and be honest about the process underway. Commissioner Clay Haynes asked representatives from HR and Metro Legal that the work not be stalled by Metro’s lengthy procurement process. 

In their summary of DEI engagement, Blackman and Jones “discerned frustration throughout [Metro Arts staff] because they had not had an opportunity to talk together, as a team, about the Scene articles and the concerns leading to articles.” Following further engagement about the allegations detailed in the Scene investigation, Blackman and Jones note that "the facilitated conversation and actions that happened directly after the conversation ... caused many team members to feel like steps backwards were taken after the group conversation.” 

A dozen community members, including one former staffer and a former commissioner, submitted public comment to the commission. API Middle Tennessee sent comment, saying that “Metro Arts must acknowledge and address the concerns of its first and only API employee,” strategic funding and initiatives manager Janine Christiano. Southern Word's board chair and executive director wrote that they “support a substantive response to the grievances shared by former and current Metro Art employees of color.” The letter continues: “This action is important not only for Metro Arts, but also for the potential impact of these inequalities as they trickle down, in direct and indirect ways, to those the Nashville arts community serves.” Additional comments were submitted by Kindling Arts Festival, Girls Write Nashville and  co-founder/co-director of The Porch Writers' Collective Katie McDougall. 

Comment was also submitted by Laurel Fisher, who served as grants manager in the department from 2015 to 2019. Fisher states that she was “coerced into resigning through the use of a performance improvement plan” by director Caroline Vincent and previous manager Rebecca Berrios. “My experience was devastating and sadly, I watched my colleagues of color endure much worse,” Fisher continues. You’ll find all public comments below. 

Metro HR has received two more complaints from arts staff members since its reports were issued. One was submitted by Christiano, and the other by director Vincent. Information about Vincent’s complaint is forthcoming. The director has said she is taking a doctor-recommended medical leave for at least two months. 

The Scene contacted Mayor John Cooper’s office for comment specifically regarding Christiano’s claim that Vincent made a racist remark about District 32 Councilmember Joy Styles, Styles’ call for the termination or resignation of Vincent, and Vincent’s leave of absence. 

The mayor did not comment on the above. His spokesperson sent the following: “The Mayor’s Office takes these reports seriously, and Metro’s Human Resources department has investigated this matter and made recommendations for improvements.”

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