Metro Arts Commission reports FY26 grant awards; council members press for equity changes and director search timeline

Ashley Batchelder, interim executive director (interim chair) of the Metro Arts Commission, presented results of the FY26 Metro Arts grant cycle and answered committee questions on process, allocation and next steps for department leadership.

Batchelder said Metro Arts received 106 operating grant applications and 275 Thrive applications in the most recent cycle. After technical review, she reported 13 operating applications and 57 Thrive applications were denied for eligibility reasons; 93 operating applications and 218 Thrive applications were reviewed by community panels. The department had $3.2 million available for grants in the FY26 cycle and allocated $1.9 million to operating grants and $1.3 million to Thrive project grants, Batchelder said.

“Thrive projects may request up to $15,000,” Batchelder said during her presentation, explaining that Thrive awards are paid at the full amount requested and are rank-ordered until funding is depleted. By contrast, she explained, operating grants do not request a specific award amount; Metro Arts determines award sizes after applying a funding formula to the pool of qualifying organizations.

Batchelder described the community-panel review process: Metro Arts recruited and paid community panelists who live in Davidson County, assigned each panelist applications to score independently, then convened in-person panel sessions to finalize rankings. She said 23 community members participated as panelists across multiple panels this cycle. For tie-breaking when awards ran out, Batchelder said staff outside the grants team reviewed tied applications.

Council Member Stiles pressed staff on equity and consistency. Stiles said the commission still had not achieved the stated goal of a 50/50 split between operating and Thrive funding and pressed for an executive director search timeline. “We need to get to 50% in terms of a split,” Stiles said. Stiles also said Nashville Shakespeare received no award this cycle, calling the outcome “ridiculous” and urging changes to ensure artists and organizations first prioritized by the community are not repeatedly left out.

Heather Lefkowitz, who identified herself as chair of the grants committee, said the commission is planning a director search in the new calendar year and described recent hiring to fill grants, communications and public art roles. Lefkowitz said the commission completed an annual retreat and is aligned on high-level goals to guide a future search.

Committee members questioned the community-panel approach. Concerns included year-to-year variation in panel composition, potential bias from local panelists who may favor familiar local organizations, and panel size (the department used three- and four-person panels this cycle). Batchelder acknowledged the tradeoffs of community panels and said staff are discussing potential hybrid models and process improvements. She also said Metro Arts has held outreach sessions and follow-up debriefs to capture feedback.

Other clarifying details Batchelder provided included: the application window ran July 15–August 15; panel training and monitoring were provided by staff during review days; one change this cycle narrowed the largest operating award from about $66,000 to approximately $46,000 to reduce gaps between the largest and smaller awards; and tie-breaking was handled by non-grants staff reviewers.

The presentation did not ask the committee to vote; it was a briefing and Q&A. Committee members requested follow-up materials, including the mathematical allocation formulas and detailed award lists. Batchelder and commission leadership said they will hold community engagement sessions and share follow-up documents with commissioners.

Ending: Metro Arts staff said they will continue public debrief sessions this week, provide the grants allocation math to council members, and plan to begin an executive director search in the new calendar year. The commission said it will consider process changes for future cycles based on feedback from applicants, council members and panelists.