Empact Art Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
990769891
IRS 990 coverage
2024–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Baltimore, MD, USA
Phone
2403932556
Rating
62
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$308,215
Expenses
$315,954
Assets
$77,086
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ALI MIRSKY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • ALI MIRSKY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $90,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Empact art is dedicated to inspiring, connecting, and empowering individuals and communities through the transformative power of art. We believe in the ability of art to break down barriers and catalyze unity, healing, and social progress. By actively involving the community in our creative process, we co-create artworks deeply rooted in their narrative, values, aspirations, and collective memory. Our intention is to share our talents and resources to help build more inclusive and vibrant communities worldwide, thriving on collaboration, empathy, and creativity.

What it reported doing in 2025

In 2025, empact art launched seven community-engaged public art projects and successfully completed and installed five of those projects. Through these initiatives, more than 4,000 community volunteers participated in the creation of permanent public artworks that strengthen community identity, foster civic engagement, and create opportunities for collective storytelling.one notable project, state of the womb, was developed in partnership with the baltimore women's commission and morgan state university and focused on black maternal health. Through a series of community conversations held during the creation of ceramic artworks, women, policymakers, healthcare advocates, and community members engaged in meaningful dialogue about maternal health disparities. These conversations contributed to the development of policy recommendations and legislative action addressing issues impacting black maternal health.empact art continued its weekly community night program, offering arts engagement opportunities every wednesday. Community night welcomes individuals of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds to participate in the co-creation of public art while building stronger community connections. In 2025, more than 1,600 individuals participated in these free community art sessions.the organization also launched the summer claypoole apprenticeship program, which provides workforce development and arts education opportunities for adults who have faced financial, educational, or life barriers that limited their access to formal arts training. The program offers paid hands-on experience in public art, community engagement, and professional artistic practice.additionally, empact art hosted both paid and unpaid internship opportunities, including credit-bearing and non-credit internships, providing emerging artists and students with practical experience in community arts programming, public art production, and nonprofit operations.in 2025, empact art partnered with brush mural fest, an initiative that pairs professional and emerging artists to create public murals throughout baltimore. Empact art provided free studio and meeting space for the festival's professional development programming and led a community mural project that engaged local residents in the artistic process.the organization also partnered with sc&h through business volunteers Maryland to host a volunteer service day, providing participants with meaningful opportunities to contribute to community-based public art projects while strengthening connections between the business community and local residents.through these programs and partnerships, empact art continued its mission of fostering stronger community connections through collaborative public art, arts education, and creative civic engagement.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 72% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 58
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 49
  • Sustainability: 29
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 63.9%; rating input score 64
  • Program expense ratio: 62.3%; rating input score 62
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.82 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 75%; rating input score 75; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • 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: Fail
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -2.5%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.24; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 28.5%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -18.3% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -27.7% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -22.9% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 63.9% of revenue deployed · 62.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 8 board members independent · 1 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $197K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $90K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2024 to 2025
  • 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.

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 16/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 30/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 14/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.