BS BULLETIN:

• Baltimore Rock Opera Society hired Kelly Carnes as executive director effective Sept. 8.
• Days later, a video showing the white arts executive wearing cornrows prompted complaints about “cultural appropriation.”
• Carnes was soon out, four of the organization’s six board members are departing, and she says she is exploring the matter with a lawyer.

Apparently even rock opera has a dress code now.

The Baltimore Rock Opera Society is dealing with a remarkable leadership implosion after its newly hired executive director, Kelly Carnes, appeared at an organization event wearing cornrows she had gotten for Burning Man.

Carnes, who is white, began the executive director job Sept. 8.

BROS formally announced her appointment Sept. 14, praising her more than two decades of experience in arts leadership, nonprofit strategy, fundraising and communications.

Then came the hair.

Carnes had recently returned from Burning Man in Nevada, where she said she chose the braided hairstyle as protection against the festival’s notoriously dusty desert conditions.

She kept the braids afterward and wore them to a BROS event.

A video featuring Carnes was subsequently posted online, where members of the organization’s community raised concerns that the hairstyle amounted to cultural appropriation.

BROS removed the video.

The organization later acknowledged the controversy in a public statement specifically describing footage of its new executive director, “who is white, wearing cornrows.”

The board said it regretted removing the video without initially explaining why and promised additional action.

That action included revising its anti-discrimination policy to more explicitly address “cultural representation and dress,” implementing anti-racism leadership training and establishing a working group focused on culture, community voice and racial equity.

Carnes did not survive the controversy.

She told The Baltimore Banner that her termination notice described her as “not a good fit” rather than explicitly citing her hairstyle.

But Carnes believes the connection is obvious.

“People can have different opinions about my hairstyle,” she told the Banner. “But someone’s personal opinion about my hairstyle is one thing. Making an employment decision based on my physical appearance is another.”

She said no one raised a concern about her hair when she attended her first major BROS event in person.

Carnes also said that when the organization later held a town hall addressing the controversy, the board instructed her not to attend.

She was subsequently fired.

Carnes says she is now examining whether the circumstances raise legal questions.

“I believe the circumstances surrounding my termination raise serious questions about discrimination, governance, and whether the values BROS presents publicly are actually extended to the people it employs,” she said.

“I am exploring those issues with counsel.”

And Carnes isn’t the only person heading for the exit.

BROS informed volunteers that four of its six board members — including board chair Naomi Davidoff and founder Aran Keating — plan to leave at the end of the year.

The organization said after a lengthy board meeting that it believes BROS should consider “new organizational structures, business models, and methods of leadership.”

All of this unfolded less than three weeks after Carnes started the job.

MY QUICK TAKE

This is a rock opera company.

Rock. Opera.

One would think a group built around people dressing like fantastical characters while belting songs under stage lights might have developed a slightly higher tolerance for adventurous hair.

Instead, the new boss went to Burning Man with braids and came home to an anti-racism training initiative, a new committee, an unemployment notice and most of the board heading for the exits.

Forget the next rock opera.

I want tickets to the board meeting.

DBS WIRE SOURCES

• New York Post — Baltimore Rock Opera Society boots white boss after cornrows controversy
• The Baltimore Banner — BROS leader defends Burning Man cornrows she says got her fired
• The Baltimore Banner — New BROS leader out after cornrows controversy
• Baltimore Rock Opera Society — Kelly Carnes named executive director