Art Spark Texas
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 742863338
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2012–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Austin, Texas, USA
- Phone
- 512-454-9912
- Rating
- 86
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Standard
- Sector
- Centers to Support the Independence of Specific Populations
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $560,074
- Expenses
- $501,951
- Assets
- $217,345
- Liabilities
- $53,798
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
7 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Laura Griebel (President / Interim Treasurer)
- Celia M Hughes (Executive Director)
Highest reported compensation
- Celia M Hughes (Executive Director): $62,120 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Access to the arts is for everyone.
What it reported doing in 2024
Community Arts provided workshops, classes, and opportunities to artists with disabilities to sell their work at local and statewide events. In 2024/25, we offered in-person exhibits and classes at our studio/office location while still providing limited artist workshops virtually. Approximately 500 emerging and professional artists were offered professional development services and technical assistance in visual art, performance, creative writing, dance, and media arts. Began the third season of the True Tales by Disability Advocates podcast, featuring stories by people with disabilities, with over 4,000 downloads worldwide. Texas Veterans Strong continued to serve over 700 veterans by hosting two exhibitions in Austin and arts and healing workshops across the state. We also hosted and offered fiscal and administrative support to two local arts organizations.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 79
- Transparency & Controls: 93
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 42
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 79.5%; rating input score 80
- Program expense ratio: 88.7%; rating input score 89
- Fundraising efficiency: $11.15 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 12th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- 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: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 10.4%; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.43; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.25; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 12.4%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 0.3% per year; rating input score 100; 19th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 2.1% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 10.5% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 10 programs and campaigns described on the official site
- Where the money goes: 79.5% of revenue deployed · 88.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $445K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $62K · 7 people listed
- Consistency: 24 of 26 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 9 filing years from 2012 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
- People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 41/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 20/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Fund balance restriction sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule D other liabilities reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 28/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 29/100.