Akron Art Museum

What it reported doing in 2024

Exhibitionsthe museum promotes an awareness and interest in modern and contemporary art by displaying, for the benefit of the community, significant objects of high artistic merit. The past year's major exhibitions included: glow: neon & light, william richards: the vastness beyond vision and she said, she said: contemporary women artists.glow: neon & light (september 21 - february 9) this exhibition features spectacular and immersive works with glass, mirrors, light bulbs and neon tubes lighting up the karl and bertl arnstein galleries. The show includes information about light's scientific properties while posing questions about color perception, context, interpretation, and the blending of light with various materials in three-dimensional spaces. This exhibition is made possible by support from the bruce and erica greer foundation, the john s. And james l. Knight foundation, the lehner family foundation, mary and dr. George l. Demetros charitable trust, john p. Murphy foundation, kenneth l. Calhoun charitable trust, and hilton garden inn akron, and is supported by the Ohio arts council which receives support from the state of Ohio and the national endowment for the arts.william richards: the vastness beyond vision (january 11 - july 25, 2025)the fred and laura ruth bidwell gallery comes to life with the vibrant colors and dazzling patterns of abstract photographs. A creative director of advertising by day, he would adjourn to his photographic darkroom at night to focus on the luminous personal projects that he created with reflections on chromed metal, colored lights and filters, and creative printing techniques. Richards created an extensive body of work from the 1950s through the 1980s. He often gave his work fanciful titles and left them to speak for themselves, allowing viewers to share in his enjoyment of color, rhythm, texture and shape with little distraction. In his own words, "photography has made it possible for us to record the vastness and the smallness beyond our normal sensory range." this exhibition is presented by the akron art museum in partnership with muus collection and is made possible through the generous support of the john s. And james l. Knight foundation, mary and dr. George l. Demetros charitable trust, john p. Murphy foundation and kenneth l. Calhoun charitable trust. This project was supported in part by the Ohio arts council, which receives support from the state of Ohio and the national endowment for the arts.she said, she said: contemporary women artists (march 22 - august 10)an exciting new exhibition of work by women artists drawn from the rubell museum's expansive collection of contemporary art fills the karl and bertl arnstein galleries with works that span from painting to photography, sculpture, video and installation by more than twenty artists of different generations, cultures and disciplines. Highlighting the significant contributions and unique perspectives that women continue to add to the art historical cannon, the exhibition will feature works by yayoi kusama, barbara kruger, cindy sherman, mickalene thomas and others. One of the exhibition's key topics will be self-portraiture. Women artists have created works in their own image in order to reclaim ownership of their own bodies. Another important area of focus in this exhibit is the appropriation and reuse of preexisting images and texts which often facilitates strong social insights. This exhibition is made possible by the john s. And james l. Knight foundation, the lehner family foundation, mary and dr. George l. Demetros charitable trust, john p. Murphy foundation, and kenneth l. Calhoun charitable trust. This project was supported in part by the Ohio arts council, which receives support from the state of Ohio and the national endowment for the arts.other new exhibitions from this past year include the following: michelangelo lovelace: art saved my life a solo exhibition by cleveland artist michelangelo lovelace, whose works

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 75%; rating input score 75
• Program expense ratio: 76.1%; rating input score 76
• Fundraising efficiency: $10.27 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
  • Compensation committee: Pass
  • Independent consultant: Missing
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
  • Written employment contract: Pass
  • Compensation survey or study: Pass
  • Board or committee approval: Pass
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: Limited
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: Pass
  • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Pass
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 19.7%; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 10.75; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 10.2%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 5.5% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 1.4% per year; rating input score 100; 17th percentile among comparable filings