Powerhouse Arts
Legal name: Powerhouse Arts Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 460776852
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2016–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- Brooklyn, NY, USA
- Phone
- 718.522.1400
- Rating
- 73
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Standard
- Sector
- Arts Education
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $16,031,170
- Expenses
- $20,931,373
- Assets
- $317,126,396
- Liabilities
- $160,256,535
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
17 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- ERIC SHINER (PRESIDENT)
- STEVEN M BATTAGLIA (SR. VICE PRESIDENT)
- KARYN WILLIAMS (VICE PRESIDENT OF PROGRAMS)
Highest reported compensation
- ERIC SHINER (PRESIDENT): $416,485 total reported compensation
- STEVEN M BATTAGLIA (SR. VICE PRESIDENT): $257,820 total reported compensation
- MITCHELL ROTH (FACILITIES DIRECTOR): $226,896 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Powerhouse Arts (PHA) is a not‑for‑profit creative production center in Gowanus, Brooklyn. We bring artists, fabricators, educators, and neighbors together—and connect them to the tools, spaces, and support they need to express themselves and sustain their practices. Every program, rental, and partnership helps fund our creative mission.
What it reported doing in 2024
Exhibitions and eventspowerhouse arts produces and undertakes its own exhibitions and events program, which includes art exhibitions, festivals, and fairs. There are additional opportunities for the public, including public programs, workshops, and classes that provide both learning and professional training opportunities.
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 98% 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 the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of total spending goes to programs and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 67
- Transparency & Controls: 81
- Accountability: 86
- Sustainability: 36
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 80.7%; rating input score 81
- Program expense ratio: 54.7%; rating input score 55
- Fundraising efficiency: $9.76 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 20th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 98.3%; rating input score 98; 30th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -30.6%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 15.15; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.51; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 8.1%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 24.9% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -5.1% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 15% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 7 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 80.7% of revenue deployed · 54.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $11.5M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $416K · 17 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.4M reported
- Consistency: 32 of 33 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
- Filing history: 8 filing years from 2016 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 12 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 3 filed related-organization links
- 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.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 55/100.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 37/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 9 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 3/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 28/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 29/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.