A Grand Rapids arts and cultural nonprofit placed its leader on administrative leave earlier this month amid an independent investigation into “internal complaints regarding the treatment of personnel.”
The Diatribe Inc. board of directors today publicly announced that Marcel “Fable” Price has been on administrative leave since July 10.
The nonprofit’s board appointed an independent law firm to investigate the matter “to guarantee an impartial investigation and to foster a workplace culture where every employee feels safe and respected,” according to a statement issued today. The investigation could take up to nine weeks, according to the statement, which was posted to The Diatribe’s social media pages.
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Placing Price on administrative leave and conducting an investigation was not related to financial mismanagement of nonprofit funds or “recent personal Facebook posts regarding an intimate relationship,” the statement says.
Price is the chief inspiration architect of The Diatribe, and was formerly referred to as the organization’s executive director. He also held the title of Grand Rapids poet laureate from 2017-2020.
Price could not be immediately reached for comment.
The Diatribe board appointed interim co-executive directors Vanessa Jimenez and Megan Smith Jovanovic to temporarily take over leadership duties and responsibilities. Jimenez was previously the executive director of the Latina Network of West Michigan, while Smith Jovanovic has served as The Diatribe’s head of philanthropy for the past three years.
The Diatribe’s programming serves mostly youth in the community through various programming, including summer workshops, community events, speaking engagements at schools and other community venues, listening sessions, and The 49507 Project — a community art and education program that connects local artists with local businesses. The organization also has focused on housing and redlining on the south side of the city.
The board statement encourages people with additional information or concerns to share them with the independent investigator, who is listed as Julie Janeway at Principled Consulting LLC. Janeway did not immediately respond to a request to comment.
The Diatribe recently received $3.5 million in state budget funding to support a capital campaign for its Emory Arts and Culture Hub development. The $6.2 million project calls for a full renovation of the building at 2040 S. Division Ave., which The Diatribe recently purchased for $400,000.
Plans for the multipurpose cultural hub were first announced in early 2022 and include renovating the 18,341-square-foot building into administrative offices and programming space for The Diatribe, eight live/work spaces designed to use as studios and living spaces for artists, affordable retail space for local business owners, and a venue called “The Retort” that will serve as a venue for local artists to perform and organizations to rent out.
Prior to the state funding, Price was a vocal critic of the Kent County Board of Commissioners, which voted to deny federal American Rescue Plan Act funding for The Emory project.
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