Happy Ending (So Far)

Word on the street is that 911 Media Arts Center has pulled itself back from the brink from a terrible internal situation that began with the firing of Fidelma McGinn, the popular managing director, by the board, prompting the subsequent outrage of membership and staff ["911's Gang of Four," Feb 6]. The struggle could have cost 911 a great deal, not least of which was a $100,000 initiative grant from the Andy Warhol Foundation (one of the very, very few national arts foundations not economically crippled these days) awarded to the organization under McGinn, and put on ice when she was fired.

The grant has been restored after a visit from the foundation's program manager, and there was a lot for her to see. Seven people--many of them former board members and longtime 911 members--have been added to the board; treasurer Paul Tobin (one of the original so-called "Gang of Four"), citing the usual family and business obligations, has resigned.

More to the point, these new board members were voted in by 911's membership, who also voted to change the organization's articles of incorporation to make 911 officially a membership organization. This is huge news, bringing, as it does, 911's charter in line with how the organization is perceived and actually run. It seems to me, at least, a triumph of process over entropy (something you don't frequently see in the nonprofit arts world), of turning something run primarily on goodwill into something smartly organized.

McGinn's position has been filled by Karen Toering, formerly executive director of the Seattle Community Access Network, and there is some talk of McGinn returning in a fundraising/advisory capacity for 911's future move into a new space. It's a great start, but the new board president, Heather Dew Oaksen, told me, "It's been a tough three months financially, and we've got a lot more work to do in that area."

The Warhol grant is aimed at small and midsize arts organizations trying to figure out how to grow and what to do next, so it's almost--almost--as if the last few months' struggle had been necessary for 911 to wake up and discover its vulnerable points, and ready itself for rebuilding. I put this theory to Oaksen, who demurred. "Well, maybe," she said. "A lot of people got hurt, which was bad. But it's easy to get complacent. We all do it."

emily@thestranger.com