Leaders of the Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts on Tuesday sought to reassure the arts community that its work will continue, despite the city’s plans to sever ties with the nonprofit.

More than 100 people logged on to an online town hall event to ask questions and hear about BOPA’s next steps in light of the city’s move to break with the financially struggling group. CEO Rachel Graham reiterated that BOPA is an arts council and an arts advocacy organization and will continue to serve that role.

“This is a life-or-death matter,” Graham said. “While we’re having these conversations, artists across this city are suffering. They’re suffering from homelessness. They are suffering from inadequate health care. They are some of the prime sufferers in the opioid addiction crisis. I believe that BOPA has a role that it can play.”

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott announced two weeks ago that the city would cut ties with BOPA — which receives most of its $4.7 million budget from the city — “after deep and careful consideration following several years of turmoil within the organization.” He acknowledged that ending the city’s relationship with the group would be “an intricate process” that would require close coordination.

The mayor’s office will ask the city spending board on Nov. 6 to formally end the contract, with the agreement running through Jan. 20.

But what does this mean for artists who receive grants through BOPA? And what will happen to events such as the Baltimore Farmers’ Market that BOPA programs through the city?

Board Chair Andrew Chaveas said a new manager will need to be found for facilities that BOPA manages on behalf of the city and a new producer will need to be found for events that BOPA helps produce.

The Farmers’ Market, for example, would need to find a new operator “because BOPA would no longer be contracted to perform that on behalf of the city,” Chaveas said.

The city has signaled that it is interested in working with BOPA to transition programming and planning of signature events, such as next year’s Artscape, to city control. Other BOPA events include the Baltimore Book Festival and Light City. BOPA also manages the Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower and The Cloisters Castle in Timonium.

A new partner will also have to be found to distribute grants that went to artists on behalf of the city through various funding opportunities, Chaveas said.

BOPA may no longer oversee a grant called the Creative Baltimore Fund because that is an annual allocation through a city contract that BOPA manages.

But there are grants given to artists, such as the Janet & Walter Sondheim Art Prize, that will still be available to artists because the money was an endowment to BOPA, said Lady Brion, a board member and interim vice chair. It is currently open for applications.

One question that came up in the town hall was what confidence the public could have in BOPA given that it’s been in turmoil in recent years.

BOPA board Treasurer Angela Wells-Sims said the organization has been working on a sustainability strategy for the last eight months but shifted its focus to the short term after the city moved to cancel the contract. With that development, BOPA faced a short-term cash-flow issue and not a budgeting issue.

This month, the board voted to lay off some staff to stem losses.

Another entity within BOPA is the Public Arts Commission, which oversees a program that allows people to apply to create public art installations. The city is required to allocate 1% of all capital construction costs toward public artwork.

Brion said the commission was created by city ordinance and people can still apply to get funding for public art they want to create.

Graham said she believes in BOPA and that it’s clear other organizations across the city do, too. Last weekend, T. Rowe Price committed $90,000 over three years, she said, and the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School reached out to BOPA to support it as the board crafts a business plan.

“I am stubborn to a fault, especially when there are things that I believe in and I feel passionately about, and the Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts is one of those things,” Graham said. “I believe in BOPA.”