The CEO and executive committee of the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts will hold a town hall online from 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, almost two weeks after the city announced the termination of its contract with the agency.
The town hall is meant for BOPA leadership to “address the questions and concerns of our arts community and discuss a vision for the organization moving forward,” according to the event’s registration website. Attendees are asked to submit questions online before the town hall.
In a last-minute meeting on Oct. 16, the financially struggling, quasi-governmental agency announced layoffs for employees and a transition task force to navigate its survival. Hours later, Mayor Brandon Scott said in a letter that the city would move to end its contract with BOPA.
The Board of Estimates must approve the city’s termination of the contract. Scott’s Chief of Staff Marvin James, in a letter to BOPA CEO Rachel Graham and Interim Board Chairman Andrew Chaveas, wrote that the mayor will recommend terminating the contract at the Nov. 6 Board of Estimates meeting . The contract will end on Jan. 20, 2025, if the BOE members support the decision.
The agency, which puts on festivals like Artscape, runs the city’s film office and distributes grants for artists, had a rocky relationship with the city in recent years while also running deficits for most of the past five years. The agency’s request for $1.8 million in emergency funding last month was enough to convince Scott to end the city’s relationship, he explained while on “Midday with the Mayor” on WYPR-FM.
Registration for the town hall Q&A can be found here.
Baltimore Sun Reporter Mary Carole McCauley contributed to this article.