Creative Growth Art Center

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237319028
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Oakland, CA, USA
Phone
5108362340
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,535,963
Expenses
$3,825,527
Assets
$2,612,193
Liabilities
$570,388

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Michael Breland (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Tom di Maria (Executive Dir.): $134,353 total reported compensation
  • Kathleen McLean (Interim ED): $37,498 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

For 50 years, Creative Growth has advanced the inclusion of artists with developmental disabilities in contemporary art, fostering a more equitable and diverse creative landscape. By providing a supportive studio environment and gallery representation, we empower our artists to thrive while strengthening community connections and reshaping perceptions of disability in the arts.Individuals with developmental disabilities are among the poorest and most marginalized populations in the United States, often forced to live in poverty due to systemic inequities. For 50 years, Creative Growth has championed artists with disabilities, offering them a vibrant platform to express themselves and thrive as professional artists. The Creative Growth community values access in all its forms, a culture of care and respect, diversity of people, and artistic expression.

What it reported doing in 2024

CCHALLENGE: Federal disability benefit structures effectively require many individuals with developmental disabilities to remain at or near the poverty line in order to retain essential services and healthcare. As a result, people with developmental disabilities remain among the most economically marginalized populations in the United States, facing persistent barriers to employment, education, and cultural participation.Creative Growth responds to this inequity by supporting artists with developmental disabilities as cultural producers and professional artists. For more than fifty years, Creative Growth has provided artists with the resources, studio space, mentorship, gallery representation, and global platforms needed to build meaningful creative lives and reshape how disability is understood within the arts. MISSION: Creative Growth advances the inclusion of artists with developmental disabilities in contemporary art and strengthens the community by providing a supportive studio environment and gallery representation. VALUES: The Creative Growth community is grounded in creativity, respect, care, and accessibility. We believe artistic expression is a fundamental human right and are committed to fostering a studio environment where diverse individuals are supported to explore their creativity, develop their own visual language, and participate fully in a culture of dignity, mutual support, and opportunity.

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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 55
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 26
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 89.1%; rating input score 89
  • Program expense ratio: 61.9%; rating input score 62
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.8 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 8; 8th 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: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
  • 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: 8 of 8 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: 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: -8.2%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.68; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.22; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.5%; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.1% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.8% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.3% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 89.1% of revenue deployed · 61.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $2.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $134K · 12 people listed
  • Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 8/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 15/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 25/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 42/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 57/100.