Art St Louis

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
431154397
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2023
Forms available
Form 990 2023, Form 990-EZ 2011
Location
St Louis, MO, USA
Phone
3142414810
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Visual Arts Organizations

Reported finances

Revenue
$241,681
Expenses
$288,692
Assets
$60,788
Liabilities
$14,248

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Francesca Passanise (Executive Director)
  • Andrew Williams (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Francesca Passanise (Executive Director): $43,269 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Art St Louis is a nonprofit community art organization and gallery dedicated to enriching lives through the creative activity of our region's contemporary visual artists. Through exhibition, education, and exchange, we connect and inspire our community, and multiply the economic and cultural vitality of our region. The organization suspended operations in March 2025.

What it reported doing in 2023

Art St Louis produces a wide variety of educational events, curates city off-site exhibitions to feature art in various locations around the city, maintains an image registry of member artists' works, manages art and counseling. Through all of our efforts, we are proud to be an integral part of establishing a national identity for St Louis as a center for the creation and appreciation of fine art. Annually hosting 7 in-gallery exhibitions and 1 virtual exhibition, exhibiting 455 original works of 343 individual regional artists.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 85% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The program-spending lines do not add up, so the filing cannot show reliably whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of total spending goes to programs and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 16
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 86.3%; rating input score 86
  • Program expense ratio: 42.5%; rating input score 42
  • Fundraising efficiency: $117.65 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • 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: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -19.5%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.21; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.23; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 15%; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.8% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.7% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.4% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 86.3% of revenue deployed · 42.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $123K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $43K · 12 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2012 to 2023
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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: Program expense ratio scored 42/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 16/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 12/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 19/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 24/100.