Art Start Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
134048380
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
2124600019
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts Education

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,306,983
Expenses
$1,299,007
Assets
$687,589
Liabilities
$211,070

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MARION TANIS (BOARD PRESIDENT)
  • DORE MURPHY (BOARD VICE PRESIDENT)
  • JOHANNA DE LOS SANTOS (CO EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/CGO)
  • RESHARD RIGGINS (CO EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • RESHARD RIGGINS (CO EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/CEO): $134,500 total reported compensation
  • JOHANNA DE LOS SANTOS (CO EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/CGO): $117,049 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

See schedule o

What it reported doing in 2025

Creative connections provides teens and young adults with structured access to professional artistic studios and partner program locations, including the whitney museum, brooklyn academy of music, and 651 arts. The program is designed to expand access to creative arts education and promote workforce readiness within the creative industries for participants who face signicant systemic barriers. During the 2025 scal year, creative connections delivered creative career exploration and skill-building opportunities to more than 100 participants, ages 1624. Program activities included paid artist residencies, paid creative career development internships, and facilitated exposure to creative industry pathways. Participants engaged in hands-on studio practice, mentorship, and professional development experiences intended to build job-readiness skills, increase awareness of viable creative careers, and support successful transitions to education, training, or employment. Programming was delivered across multiple community-based and institutional settings to ensure consistent access to high-quality creative learning and career development opportunities.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 87% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 47
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 27
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 47.8%; rating input score 48
  • Program expense ratio: 48.1%; rating input score 48
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10.97 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: 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • 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: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 0.6%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.53; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.31; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 19.4%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8.6% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.4% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 23.9% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 47.8% of revenue deployed · 48.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $625K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $134K · 15 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 29 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 48/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 48/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 38/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 32/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 26/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 17/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 19/100.