National Gallery of Art

What it reported doing in 2024

EDUCATION AND PUBLIC PROGRAMSThe National Gallery advanced its educational mission by providing accessible art-based programs developed in collaboration with artists, musicians, filmmakers, scholars, educators, and community partners. The National Gallery delivered 3,066 educational and public programs, serving 157,666 participants onsite and virtually.A total of 36,212 visitors attended after-hours programs, including National Gallery Nights and Jazz in the Garden. The National Gallery served 12,273 participants through 82 film screenings featuring rare, non-commercial, international, and art films. Ongoing in-person our public tour series engaged 30,316 visitors, while 12,472 attendees participated in onsite and virtual talks and conversations. Multigenerational programs engaged more than 20,480 participants of all ages through family-oriented activities, including artmaking, story time, yoga, pop-up programs, and an online sketchbook club.Educational programs served 20,700 K-12 students nationwide through 403 school programs, including onsite tours, virtual lessons, and in-school workshops. Through the Across the Nation program, the National Gallery partnered with 10 museums and convened 176 educators from 12 states through two regional teacher institutes.The affiliate loan program expanded national access to the National Gallery's educational content by licensing films to broadcasters and distributing educational materials free of charge to K-12 schools, libraries, senior communities, and other organizations. This program reached an estimated self-reported audience of 50,313,733 viewers. In addition, approximately 10,372 posters were distributed to educators in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Armed Forces (AE), and Puerto Rico. The National Gallery also distributed 27,000 printed educational resources on site.The National Gallery Library digitized 493 rare and special collection titles for access online and added 4,208 digital images to the current online image collection catalog. The cataloging team contributed 144 name authority records to the Library of Congress and enhanced or corrected another 122 name records. 4,885 items were added into the collection. Website visits surpassed 15 million, while social media impressions reached 94.4 million and Stories surpassed 500,000 views. Our original videos engaged viewers nationwide, achieving a record 32.9 million views across all 50 states.In May 2025, the National Gallery launched a new website aimed at creating new pathways for visitors and online users to engage with our collection. The Imaging Department catalogued 20,575 images in the Enterprise Digital Asset Management (eDAM) system, a 43% increase over the previous year. The team added 5,409 collection images, and the Open Access program saw an increase of 34% increase from last year, totaling over 667,000 image downloads.The Center, founded in 1979, for advanced study in the visual arts, continued to foster the study of the production, use, and cultural meaning of art, artifacts, architecture, urbanism, photography, and film from all places and periods. In fiscal year 2025, the Center supported 46 fellows and organized 35 scholarly programs, with 4,883 attendees across in-person and virtual formats. We welcomed award-winning classicist Mary Beard as Kress-Beinecke Professor, where she worked on a number of projects, mentored predoctoral fellows, and held two public programs. Highlights from the Center's programs included a book discussion with Jennifer L. Roberts on "Contact: Art and the Pull of Print", the most recent of our Mellon Lectures volumes produced with Princeton University Press; the 74th A. W. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts by Mabel O. Wilson; the Sydney J. Freedberg Lecture on Italian Art presented by Keith Sciberras; and a study day and public program in conjunction with the exhibition "Paris 1874: The Impressionist Moment". The Center continued to develop the first volumes of its publication

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 70.3%; rating input score 70
• Program expense ratio: 71.1%; rating input score 71
• Fundraising efficiency: $29.67 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 31st percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
  • Compensation committee: Pass
  • Independent consultant: Pass
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
  • Written employment contract: Missing
  • Compensation survey or study: Pass
  • Board or committee approval: Pass
• Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
  • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
  • Requires narrative reports: Limited
  • Conducts field audits: Limited
  • May suspend future funding: Limited
  • Requires financial reports: Limited
  • Conducts site visits: Limited
  • Requires grant agreements: Limited
  • May require repayment: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
• Major donor itemization: Limited
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th 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: 25.3%; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 7.63; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.1; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 3.7%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 3.5% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 2.9% per year; rating input score 100; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 5.1% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings