Ox-bow

What it reported doing in 2024

Ox-bow was founded in 1910 and operates an art school, including artists-in-residency programs, and owns the necessary property and buildings to conduct the same. Ox-bow's purpose is to connect artists to a network of creative people, resources and ideas to an energizing natural environment and, to a rich artistic history and to a vital future. Ox-bow recognizes artists are visionaries: they create new possibilities, advance culture, and enable others to imagine the unimaginable. Our school and residency are programmed to support and build on those skills by providing artists at all stages in their artistic journey access to a range of programs and resources throughout the year, online and in person. At ox-bow, a nourished life includes conversation, rigor, playfulness, experiencing nature, immersion into a creative context, and communally enjoying delicious, healthy meals. Ox-bow's strength is drawn from healthy relationships with the saugatuck/douglas community, the school of the art institute of chicago, partners schools throughout the united states, and national and international artists and supporters. Ox-bow believes experiencing a flourishing natural world invigorates a sense of awe and curiosity that enables the creative spirit. Currently, ox-bow's board of directors is made up of 13 individuals. Their backgrounds and skillsets provide insight into law, architecture, business management and the arts, with 2 members representing the school of the art institute of chicago. The board is passionate about ox-bow and governs the organization on a volunteer basis. The board annually cultivates 2 new members to grow the board, with the goal of reaching a cohort of 18 members. Integral to the ox-bow experience are the dedicated staff who help define the character of the organization. Ox-bow has been largely artist run for the last 112 years, which infuses the leadership, main office, kitchen, maintenance, and housekeeping with a creative and playful sensibility. Ox-bow's classes are taught by local, national, or international renowned and distinguished artists. In 2023 ox-bow opened up enrollment capacity after 2 years of restricted class sizes to mitigate covid spread. We continued to adjust to the repercussions of the pandemic, including a higher living wage, inflation across our operations costs, stagnant enrollment and patron attrition. Following the trends other nonprofits and schools are experiencing, these examples were on trend but showed steady, but incremental improvement. Hiring experienced, dedicated staff remained a challenge as the workforce continued to correct itself post-pandemic. Overall, ox-bow continues to offer a two-week in-person intensive in january and 10-weeks of in-person learning from june-august. These classes are offered for both credit and noncredit, with the majority of our students coming from the school of art institute of chicago with whom we have an ongoing partnership agreement. Ox-bow's summer and fall workshop series, art on the meadow, offers day workshops throughout the summer for children, teens and adults. This program is a way for local residents and short term visitors to engage in life and artmaking at ox-bow. Classes are timed to give participants concentrated studio time, while still allowing for the flexibility that busy summer and year round schedules require. Our residency programs offer artists and writers, at various stages in their career, the time, space, and community to encourage growth and experimentation in their practice. Residents join ox-bow's community throughout the year, woven into our campus alongside students, fellows, faculty and staff for periods of 2 weeks up to 1 month. The selection process consists of an online application review followed by an in person panel meeting focusing on the merit of the applicant's work as well as responses to the statements of practice, purpose and interest. Ox-bow continually reinvents opportunities for the local community to v

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 90.9%; rating input score 91
• Program expense ratio: 76.5%; rating input score 77
• Fundraising efficiency: $3.52 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
  • Compensation committee: Pass
  • Independent consultant: Missing
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
  • Written employment contract: Pass
  • Compensation survey or study: Pass
  • Board or committee approval: Pass
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
• 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: Pass
  • 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: -10%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.64; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.29; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 5.3%; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 4.8% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 1.6% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: -2.5% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings