Metro Arts: $3.1M in FY25 grants distributed; audit work underway and public-art dedications planned

Ashley Batchelder, interim executive director of Metro Arts, told the Metro Nashville Budget & Finance Committee that the department has distributed $3,100,000 of its $3.2 million FY25 grants allocation and is making “substantial progress” implementing recommendations from a recent audit.

Batchelder delivered the update during a departmental briefing to the Budget & Finance Committee and outlined grant disbursement timing, public-art projects across multiple council districts, work to relaunch court-involved youth arts programming, and steps taken to tighten contracting and internal controls.

Metro Arts said award authorizations for the FY25 grant cycle were completed in March and that disbursements began April 18. The department reported that it allocated 40% of its total grants budget to the Thrive program, which funds neighborhood-level, project-based arts activity, and that Thrive-funded projects now reach 27 of the city’s 35 council districts. Metro Arts also said 90 arts organizations receive operating grants.

“We have distributed $3,100,000 of the $3.2 million,” Batchelder said, reporting the amount already paid to grantees.

Batchelder summarized other near-term steps for the grant cycle: Metro Arts staff plan to present grant criteria to the arts commission in June, bring an annual resolution to the council in July and open applications in August, with the goal of getting next-cycle funding out by the end of the calendar year.

On audit work, Batchelder said the department submitted an updated implementation plan earlier this month and has identified 13 recommendation areas. She told the committee that several fixes were completed quickly — for example, changes to timekeeping and administrative processes — and that other recommendations are being addressed through written policies and staff training.

Batchelder said the department moved the Thrive funding model from a direct procurement/vendor payment to a grant program as one corrective step. She also described a new DocuSign contracting workflow developed with Metro Legal and said the department is reorganizing file retention and internal controls to ensure consistent procedures across staff.

Council members pressed for specifics on outstanding audit items and procurement compliance. One council member asked whether solicitation processes align with the procurement code; Batchelder said immediate problems had been corrected and that her new finance administrator will ensure staff training and compliance going forward.

Batchelder described three public-art projects currently active or coming online: a mural at the Luby Community Center in District 2 titled They Fought with Words, Leaders, Lawyers, and Educators (in partnership with Creative Girls Rock and local lead artist Alicia Ba Marorzick); the Be as Water lighting canopy at the Arthur Avenue underpass on I‑65 (Districts 19 and 21), developed with community partners including Simone Boyd and local installers Art of Nashville and Project Return; and Wings of Time, a cluster of 17 life‑sized herons at the Old Hickory Community Center in District 11 scheduled for early 2026.

Batchelder also updated the committee on youth and restorative-arts work. Metro Arts’ Community Arts Leaders of Nashville paid-internship program placed eight interns this spring. The department is redesigning an art program for court-involved youth that launched in 2018 and was paused in the last fiscal cycle; Batchelder attributed the pause primarily to staffing shortages and said the department plans a phased relaunch that it expects to fund within the current budget.

Staffing changes were highlighted as part of the department’s stabilization: Capri Horston joined last week as finance administrator, and Batchelder said the department is recruiting a public information officer with hopes of onboarding by July to bolster outreach and community engagement.

Council members asked why some districts show few or no Thrive projects; Batchelder said the department wants to expand outreach and noted a separate request for $100,000 to increase community engagement and communications that was not funded in the current budget. Councilmember Campbell told the department, “Communication is key,” and offered to share council channels to help notify constituents when the next application cycle opens.

A previously funded disparity or equity study was discussed. Chair Campbell West and Batchelder said the council funded study was not carried forward; Batchelder said the department will continue pursuing equitable funding practices through its program design and outreach even though the formal study was not completed.

No motions or votes were taken during the briefing. Batchelder closed by saying the department’s financial position is “comfortable” compared with the prior year and that the changes already made reflect progress since the last budget hearing.

Next steps spelled out for the committee and council: the arts commission review in June, a likely council resolution in July to set grant criteria, an August application period, and an aim to disburse the next cycle’s funds by year’s end. Batchelder offered to provide historical outcomes for the court-involved youth program to council members via SharePoint on request.