New City Arts Initiative

What it reported doing in 2024

Vocation: we are committed to helping make charlottesville a place where artists can live and work. In response to artists' needs, we offer free studio space, a low-commission gallery, artist grants, and networking opportunities. From july 1, 2024 through june 30, 2025, new city arts supported 150 charlottesville-area artists and 7,555 total arts participants who engaged with this work. During this timeframe, $90,061 was distributed to charlottesville-area artists through commissions, honorariums, stipends, and sales, alongside artwork acquisitions or commissions by local facilities who partnered with new city arts to build their permanent collection, create rotating exhibitions, or launched open calls to commission artists for new works.new city arts' programs are primarily project-based and support emerging artists in the charlottesville area (charlottesville, albemarle, greene, nelson, louisa, fluvanna, orange, buckingham) who are often creating installations, durational works, or experimental projects. Annually, more than 50% of the artists new city arts serves are artists of color and include aging artists, teenage artists, differently abled artists, and queer artists. We support their work through a community-based curatorial process and a portfolio of physical spaces and funding including an exhibition space, free studio space, fellowships, and grants.for each exhibiting artist, new city arts provided installation support, exhibition stipends, teaching artist honorariums, and professional photography which can be found at newcityarts.org. The new city arts residency program provided 5 months of free studio space and project stipends for 2 artists. Through the new city arts fellowship, new city arts rented studio space and provided a project stipend for 4 artists whose work culminated in a group show at welcome gallery.unique to new city arts is a missional commitment to make charlottesville a place where artists can live and work, which requires a comprehensive programming approach to support artists beyond our gallery walls with funding and studio space. New city arts strongly considers both the form (what is produced) and the process by which work is created (by whom, for whom, and how) in order to address unjust systems of power historically upheld by art spaces and support curatorial power by artists and community members. In 2024, the organization adopted a 2026-2029 strategic plan co-created by charlottesville-area artists and arts audiences.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 81.7%; rating input score 82
• Program expense ratio: 88.3%; rating input score 88
• Fundraising efficiency: $47.38 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 75; 75th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: Pass
  • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Missing
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 7.6%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.75; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 24.7%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 10.7% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 9.2% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 12.1% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings