Briarwood Arts Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
922139488
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2024
Location
Jackson, MS, USA
Phone
6014055667
Rating
56
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts, Cultural Organizations - Multipurpose

Reported finances

Revenue
$307,103
Expenses
$142,571
Assets
$223,238
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Maisie Brown (Board President)
  • Garrad Lee (Vice President)

People named in this filing

  • Andrea JonesDavis (Officer)
  • Rosaline McCoy (Officer)
  • Kamel King (Officer)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

To empower the next generation of Mississippi artists and foster positive community relationships by repurposing a vacant building into an accessible arts and education hub with the goal of revitalizing the briarwood heights neighborhood.

What it reported doing in 2025

Briarwood Arts Center: Here are some of its program accomplishments and offerings: Diverse Programming: The center offers a wide range of programs many of which are free including: Music: DJ workshops music production workshops songwriting workshops vocal coaching Beat $ale Saturday an expo for music producers and YAHT You Aint Heard This Club for discovering new underground music. Dance: Fiesta Friday Salsa Bachata classes Live to Dance! w Royal Ze open freestyle dance Diaspora Afro Caribbean Dance Party Grooves Moves & Vibes Session Krump class and line dancing. Crafts: Old-fashioned hand-quilting crochet circle candle-making sewing workshops jewelry-making T-shirt printing wood burning mini cake decorating rug workshops and perfume making. Visual Art: Mural painting paint & sip events digital painting graphic design comic book drawing Jackson Photography Club sneaker paint parties and vision board parties. Performance Art: Spoken word poetry You Got Jokes Comedy Hour, vocal strength workshops and Artist Triage professional development. Education & Life Skills: GoodEDvice ACT Prep Club after-school tutoring and a focus on passing down history legacy and family traditions through the arts. Community Engagement: Hosting events for 601 JXN Day a city-wide celebration including the Briarwood Unity 2K and a community clean-up. They also host service programs like the Siegel Select Block Party to collect donations for hotel residents. Creating Accessible Spaces: The center provides various dedicated spaces for artistic and community activities such as: Craft Kitchen: Equipped for crafting skills Cricut machine use and sewing projects. Ubuntu Room: Used for dance movement through music and self-defense. Koles House II: A music lab studio. The Branding Lab: Features a green screen and backdrops for photography. Artist Lounge: A space for relaxation listening to music and emotional release. Community Revitalization and Empowerment: Stephen Browns vision for the Briarwood Arts Center extends beyond art to inspire community revitalization. He aims for the center to be an incubator for other organizations interested in repurposing properties in residential neighborhoods empowering residents to take ownership of blighted properties. The center emphasizes building relationships rather than being transactional fostering camaraderie and dignity within the Briarwood neighborhood. Broad Reach: Since its opening the Briarwood Arts Center has attracted guests from across the metro area and even from towns like Kosciusko and Grenada demonstrating significant community support. It serves a wide age range from 6 to 94 years old fostering intergenerational connections through art. 17,000 total visitors at 1,550 programs from 100+ unique zip codes.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 96% 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

MIXED - 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: 7
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 93
  • Sustainability: 76
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 5.5%; rating input score 5
  • Program expense ratio: 11.8%; rating input score 12
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90%; rating input score 90; 10th 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: 87.5%; rating input score 88; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: 53.6%; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.57; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -17.2% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 39.7% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 57.6% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 5.5% of revenue deployed · 11.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 8 board members independent · 7 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $17K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 35 of 36 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2023 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 5/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 12/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 53/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.