BmoreArt

What we do know is that after 90 days, BOPA will no longer receive city funding to run a vast assortment of programs, committees, commissions, properties, festivals—including Artscape, the Downtown Farmer’s Market, the Baltimore Book Festival, and Free Fall Baltimore—as well as grants like the Creative Baltimore Fund, Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, and organizations like the Public Art Commission, Baltimore Film Office, and City Arts Council, although the organization is still contractually obligated to run the New Year’s Eve fireworks show in the Inner Harbor and MLK Parade in January, 2025. 

In addition to grant-making, BOPA manages four properties: School 33, the Bromo Arts Tower, Top of the World, and The Cloisters, located in Baltimore County. In the first two properties, there are income-generating artist studios as well as art galleries.

BOPA also manages the Janet & Walter Sondheim Prize, an annual art competition that comes with its own endowment to produce an exhibition of finalists at a museum, an exhibition of semi-finalists, and a $30,000 prize for the winning visual artist and this call for entries is currently open. BOPA also facilitates the Municipal Travel Prize, which is a  $6000 grant for a Baltimore-based artist to complete a research trip and project.

BOPA’s mandate to wrangle a wide variety of tourism, culture, and other miscellaneous administration duties has always been a bit confusing to casual observers. With its absence impending, the public has more questions than ever about so many moving pieces.

So far, the most information shared about the BOPA 90 day transition was at the BOE meeting on November 5, and came from Calvin Young III, senior advisor to Mayor Scott, and two speakers representing BOPA. At the meeting, Young said that city officials are working on a transition plan that will help determine how BOPA’s work will be carried out after January 20, 2025. 

According to the Baltimore Fishbowl, Young assured the BOE that the city’s goal is to continue supporting Baltimore’s artists and the arts community, and that the Mayor’s team’s primary focus is to “minimize disruption to employees and, crucially, lessen the impact on artists and creatives who depend on grant funding.” Young said that they are committed to making sure that the arts community receives the support needed in the coming months but did not give specifics. 

One other major announcement Young made was that the Mayor’s Office would “collaborate with our fiscal agency, the Baltimore Civic Fund, to distribute $500,000 in artist relief funding to individual artists.” This is a significant amount of money, so artists would like to know more about how, why, and when this would be awarded, and if this funding would be similar to last year’s ARPA funding awards organized by United Way, which prioritized underrepresented organizations but largely ignored established cultural organizations in need except for the Maryland Film Festival.

Young said that their transition team has initiated critical work with BOPA to ensure a smooth process over the next 90 days. Young thanked BOPA for years of continued service but said that their new goal is to “establish a more functional cultural network and to foster a sustainable and inclusive cultural ecosystem” in the future, with a transparent transition and new partnerships to embrace and elevate the city’s “rich cultural environment.”

After Young spoke, the BOE heard testimony from BOPA interim board treasurer Angela Wells-Sims, and Rachel Graham, BOPA’s Director and CEO since March, 2024. Both asked the board to give them more time to work with the city and the arts community in order to develop a clear plan forward. 

“I am deeply concerned about the lack of connection that has brought us to this point,” said Wells-Sims. “In September, the media reported that BOPA wanted a $1.8 million bailout, but it was working with the city operating with $800,000 outstanding accounts payable from the prior year… We had completed 70% of our contracts’ value, but had only received 25% of the contract itself, which was owed to the organization.”

Well-Sims continued, “This is $2.2 million of outstanding funds. It was not an ask for a bailout. It was a signal that payment was needed. It was an opportunity for collaboration and constructive dialogue and could have served as an opportunity to align payments with milestones—not just quarterly payments.”

Well-Sims also said that the BOPA Interim Board had developed transition teams within their board to focus on key areas of improvement, with advisory boards to strengthen community trust and better understand the needs of the art community. She said that they thought they were in compliance with all stated goals. but “to our surprise, we received a cancellation of contract.”

Rachel Graham, BOPA’s Director and CEO spoke next. “What is concerning and not being discussed is that this organization has been doing too much with too little for too long,” she said. “The city pays us $2.7 million, including the Creative Baltimore Fund, but it costs $5.3 million to do what we do.” She said their goal was to take a few things out of their contract with the city, so that they could focus on art services for Baltimore artists and communities. 

“Termination of this contract means termination of the arts council for Baltimore,” she said. “It is not fair not to give this body the actual time to figure out a better way to right the ship.” Graham explained that she had inherited a number of financial deficits from previous leadership, and she felt the Mayor’s Office hadn’t engaged in real dialogue with BOPA on these challenges nor given her enough time to solve them.

After the two women spoke, the BOE voted unanimously to terminate the city’s contract with BOPA effective January 20, 2025. 

After the BOE hearing, Mayor Scott made a public statement, saying, “My job is to make sure that the money—taxpayer money—that Baltimoreans entrust is to be spent in an appropriate way. It’s unfortunate, some of the things that were said today. Let me be very clear: the city did not owe them money. We operate on the contract in a quarterly manner; we continue to do that,” indicating that BOPA’s board and leadership was not transparent about financial issues with the city but without citing specifics.

It’s no secret that, for many years, BOPA has engaged in a financial standoff with the city, from whom it receives most of its $4.7 million budget. Graham inherited this relationship with the city and a budget deficit when she started the role eight months ago, as well as what is seen by many as a handicap: quarterly payments from the city, their primary funder, that do not match up with their fiscal calendar and obligations.

BOPA also inherited a $16,000 a month office space in downtown Baltimore and a ten year lease signed by the previous director. This September, after Artscape, BOPA’s biggest expense, Graham requested $1.8 million from the city, as an advance on the city’s quarterly payments owed to the organization. Scott responded with a request for an independent audit of the organization, but later decided to end their 22 year relationship.

Now that the decision has been made, Baltimore artists are asking what is going to happen to all of the services, programs, properties, events, grants, and opportunities for artists in Baltimore that BOPA was required to provide? 

“Good Afternoon Mayor Scott, Members of the City Council, and Maryland State Arts Council Leadership,” begins an open letter sent last week about the future of arts funding in Baltimore. “Since the Board of Estimates decision to approve the cancellation of BOPA’s contract, 250+ artists have signed on to express their deep concerns regarding the impact of this decision on our community. We are looking forward to your response and an update on the city’s plans to meaningfully engage the arts community and address our concerns.”

Before that hearing, an earlier letter was circulated from the same authors, asking the BOE to extend the 90 day window in order to make sure BOPA’s contractual obligations to the city were implemented and asking for the mayor to share a transparent plan and timeline for what comes next.

The group of independent artists, including previous members of Scott’s own Arts and Culture transition team and committee for arts and culture, have come together to request accountability measures from the Mayor’s Office, City Council, and Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC). In addition to the two open letters, they have started an online message board on Instagram calling themselves @BaltimoreArtsCouncil. To be clear, this designation is officially held by BOPA, but its future is what many artists are expressing concern about, specifically if the organization loses that status due to the city’s termination of the contract.

The open letter is available publicly at Instagram via BaltimoreArtsCouncil and was written by Maggie Villegas, (Artist and Former Member, Arts & Culture Advisory Committee, Mayor Brandon M Scott, Former member, 2020 Transition Team – Arts & Culture Committee, Mayor Brandon M Scott), Jessica Solomon (Artist and Former Member, Arts & Culture Advisory Committee, Mayor Brandon M Scott, Co-Chair, 2020 Transition Team – Arts & Culture Committee, Mayor Brandon M Scott), Lu Zhang (artist and Former Interim Board Member, Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts), Adam Holofcener, Esq. (Artist, Former Interim Board Member, Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts, Former member, 2020 Transition Team – Arts & Culture Committee, Mayor Brandon M Scott), and Nicholas Cohen (Artist, Arts Advocate, Arts & Culture Advisory Committee member, Mayor Brandon M Scott, 2020 Transition Team – Arts & Culture Committee member, Mayor Brandon M Scott). 

The instagram account includes fifteen subsequent slides with black writing on white which include the names of the 250 individuals who have signed the letter, followed by 22 slides of white writing on black backgrounds with quotes from a variety of artists expressing concern and asking questions.

Most of the quotes emphasized that the arts community has no idea what to expect next and this lack of information is creating tension and insecurity, especially after the results of the national election.

Comments also express skepticism that the 90 day window approved by the BOE, which include the holidays, are not enough time to guarantee that artists, organizations, and communities served do not experience a gap in funding.

On the IG page, Chanel Compton said that, “It’s critical that the Mayor work with BOPA instead of working against it. Allow time for strategic planning and community collaboration.” 

The quotes also expressed that Baltimore artists want a high functioning arts council that remains separate from city hall politics, and that this status is unclear.

If BOPA retains their arts council status, will the grants and funding opportunities continue to come to Baltimore via our Maryland State Arts Council? The fear that many expressed is that Baltimore could miss out on state funding if the status is taken away in the short-term during the next 12 months, although a new entity established as the arts council would be able to access funds from state and federal sources long-term.

“Baltimore deserves an arts council that serves its community, builds a robust arts economy to serve its city and makes good on its mission-critical and mandated work,” wrote Ashley Molese. “BOPA’s transition needs to be carefully managed, ensuring that the most vulnerable programs have the least amount of disruption.”

“As a longtime supporter of artists and creative entrepreneurs, I have seen firsthand how much our city’s vibrancy relies on their creative contributions and how much our artists’ livelihoods rely on grants, events, and resources managed by BOPA,” wrote Michelle Geiss. “None of us can afford to put these vital assets at risk through a rushed and politicized transition.”

On Sunday November 10, an update to the Open Letter was posted on the Baltimore Arts Council Instagram page with a response from Steve Skeritt-Davis, Executive Director of the Maryland State Arts Council. 

“As you are aware, the Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC) has a strong history of supporting the arts across our State,” wrote Skeritt-Davis. “In FY24, MSAC awarded over $11.2 million in grants to Baltimore City’s artists and arts organizations and saw strong participation from City residents in our professional development offerings.”

Skeritt-Davis continued, “The 24 county arts agencies are crucial partners that help deliver grants, services, and programs locally and ensure access to the arts for all Marylanders. MSAC requires these partners to submit well articulated, multi-year plans developed with the participation of community members as part of the application process for State funds. We look forward to hearing from local leaders about the path forward and will continue to work with all parties in the interest of supporting the continued vitality of the arts in Baltimore.” 

On the third slide, the group responded to Skeritt-Davis. “We appreciate MSAC’s continued support of the arts in Baltimore,” it said. “We are encouraged to learn that your process requires arts agency partners to engage with community members. We share your hope that local leaders will present their vision soon, as it is crucial that their plan both invites artists into the process and can be implemented on a realistic timeline.”

The group says that the next step is for Mayor Scott to share the specifics of his plan with the city, to make the process transparent as possible, and to create opportunities for artist communities to join in the effort to, as Calvin Young III stated at the BOE hearing, “establish a more functional cultural network and to foster a sustainable and inclusive cultural ecosystem,” in order to elevate the city’s rich cultural environment.

In their original letter, the group stated that, “Baltimore’s creative community is one of our city’s greatest assets.” They ask the Mayor to “Please show your commitment to protecting this vital part of our city by preserving what limited infrastructure we have and ensuring that artists, residents, and culture bearers—those most directly impacted by this decision—are given the opportunity to shape the future of Baltimore’s creative support systems.”

Note of disclosure: Mayor Scott’s senior advisor, Tonya Miller Hall, is on BOPA’s interim board as one of 4 seats appointed by Mayor Scott and is a member of BmoreArt’s Advisory Council, as is former interim BOPA Board Member Lu Zhang. BmoreArt’s ED, Cara Ober, is a member of the Mayor’s arts and cultural committee.