The Society of the Four Arts
Legal name: The Society of the Four Arts Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 590454318
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Palm Beach, FL, United States
- Phone
- (561) 655-7226
- Rating
- 62
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Arts, Cultural Organizations - Multipurpose
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $118,417,765
- Expenses
- $15,167,927
- Assets
- $251,221,175
- Liabilities
- $2,903,351
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
175 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Dr Philips Rylands (President & CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- Dr Philips Rylands (President & CEO): $634,579 total reported compensation
- Gloria Rex (Chief Financial Officer): $333,228 total reported compensation
- Nancy Hullihen (Chief Development Officer): $331,120 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The Four Arts believes that the passion of music, the beauty of art, the thrill of drama, and the pleasure of literature bridge the gap from mere existence to truly living. It is our desire to share "the four arts" with everyone. The Society of the Four Arts is a nonprofit cultural organization founded in 1936 with a mission to inspire and engage people through the presentation of outstanding artistic programs. The Four Arts offers hundreds of programs, including concerts, art exhibits, workshops, films, children’s programs, and more, mostly concentrated from November through May. The 10-acre campus along the Intracoastal Waterway in Palm Beach includes a performance hall, an art gallery, a modern education center devoted to lifelong learning, a library, a children’s library, and beautiful sculpture gardens. The Four Arts is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. The Four Arts believes that the...
What it reported doing in 2024
The Four Arts gardens were founded in the 1930's, when many visitors and new residents were unfamiliar with the subtropical flora of south Florida. The gardens were designed to demonstrate the varieties of horticulture possible in the region. The horticultural display gardens feature nine separate sections ranging from a Chinese-style walled garden to a formal colonial garden to a Spanish garden against a mediterranean-revival facade and showcasing an antique Spanish well. The gardens are maintained by the Garden Club of Palm Beach.Immediately adjacent, the two-acre Philip Hulitar sculpture garden, which displays an encyclopedic collection of American and international sculpture and functions as a public park for Palm Beach, is a further showcase for subtropical horticulture. The gardens are open to the public year-round, free of charge. Attendance 56,450 while open for 342 days..
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 92% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- 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.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - Most voting board members are independent and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 35
- Transparency & Controls: 63
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 86
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 11.5%; rating input score 11
- Program expense ratio: 61.2%; rating input score 61
- Fundraising efficiency: $63.02 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th 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: Scored; rating input score 0
- Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 9 of 9 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: 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: 87.2%; rating input score 99; 99th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 16.56; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 15.2%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 3.7% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 15.5% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 8.9% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 11.5% of revenue deployed · 61.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 166 of 166 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $9.3M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $635K · 175 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.4M reported
- Consistency: 37 of 37 current checks pass
- Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 9 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 2 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.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 11/100.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 1/100.