Eight of the 13 interim board members of the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts stepped down the week after city officials voted to terminate the quasi-governmental organization’s 22-year contract, BOPA confirmed Wednesday.

Interim Chair Andrew Chaveas, Interim Vice Chair Lady Brion, Interim Treasurer Angela Wells-Sims and interim board members Lu Zhang, Sarah Scott, Jeffrey Kent, Adam Holofcener and Ellen Janes resigned. That leaves Interim Secretary April Lewis and board members Andy Cook, Derrick Chase, Robyn Murphy and Tonya Miller Hall.

“What was disappointing was that we could not revive BOPA into the high-performing hub of support for the arts that Baltimore needs,” Janes, who is the executive director of the Central Baltimore Partnership, told The Baltimore Sun in an email. “Hopefully there will be alternative paths to this end.”

“We deeply value the time and effort [the board members who resigned] invested in our organization in recent months, and we understand their decision to depart in light of shifts in our relationship with the City,” BOPA CEO Rachel Graham wrote in an email to stakeholders.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott initially announced Oct. 16 that the city would sever ties with the financially struggling arts council. Prior to the announcement, BOPA had a plan to lay off employees to save $35,000 per month.

The city’s Board of Estimates confirmed the move Nov. 6 by unanimously voting to end the contract with BOPA effective Jan. 20.

Baltimore City is expected to take over many of the functions currently fulfilled by the arts council, which was created by former Mayor Martin O’Malley in 2002. In addition to mounting such marquee city celebrations as Artscape, BOPA has run the popular weekly farmers markets and operated the Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower and other event spaces.

“The Mayor’s Office is very confident that the transition process will position the city to effectively take on or otherwise address the necessary functions,” mayoral spokesman Bryan Doherty said in an email. “As the mayor has stated, it was not an easy decision, but it was the right one and was executed with careful consideration.”

The city will also consider making new hires as it takes on more responsibility with the transition from BOPA, according to Doherty.

Despite the uncertainty surrounding its future, BOPA leaders are determined to forge ahead within the city’s arts community.

“I and the interim board took on the work of examining the current state of the organization and making recommendations on how it could more effectively meet its mission as an arts advocacy organization,” Graham wrote in an email to The Sun. “We did so with a commitment to work collaboratively with the administration. While it is disappointing that the city has exercised its option to terminate the contract prior to the completion of that work, we cannot let that stop the progress we’ve made.”

In her letter to the community, Graham outlined three major areas of focus: support of the arts community through grantmaking and advocacy, the development of a citywide creative agenda to grow the cultural economy, and the promotion of Baltimore as a Destination for Arts Tourism.

She said the community will be invited to a series of Community Listening Conversations next week, allowing people to “share your vision for how we can collectively shape the organization’s future and maximize its impact in Baltimore.”

“While we have a challenging road ahead, there is still a need for a reimagined version of this organization that takes a different approach to supporting artists, arts organizations, and communities seeking equitable access to arts and culture,” Graham said.

Baltimore Sun reporter Mary Carole McCauley contributed to this article. Have a news tip? Contact Todd Karpovich at tkarpovich@baltsun.com, on X as @ToddKarpovich.