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Artsmemphis at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Artsmemphis

Supporting the arts to strengthen the memphis community.

$1.7M
Granted FY2025still arriving
46
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$381k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$9.8MYouth Development$571kEducation$112kHealth$8kReligion$7k
02FY2025 · 46 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 46 grants below total $1,596,795, the rows itemized in this filing. The $1,701,406 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $104,611 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k7 grants · $51k
  • $10k–50k30 grants · $584k
  • $50k–250k8 grants · $581k
  • $250k+1 grant · $381k
$19,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$29M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART$381,000
METAL MUSEUM INC$116,000
OPERA MEMPHIS$82,750
SOULSVILLE FOUNDATION$81,000
BALLET MEMPHIS$63,000
MEMPHIS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA$62,500
COLLAGE DANCE COLLECTIVE$61,000
CIRCUIT PLAYHOUSE INC$59,000
NEW BALLET ENSEMBLE AND SCHOOL$55,500
THEATRE MEMPHIS$48,000
HATTILOO THEATRE$34,000
OVERTON PARK SHELL$28,500
CROSSTOWN ARTS$25,100
ORPHEUM THEATRE GROUP$23,000
CAZATEATRO BILINGUAL THEATRE GROUP$22,550
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 17%, against an area that typically sits at 14%. 100% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 14%TONE (FKA THE CLTV): $115k → 17%MEMPHIS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $150k → 17%OPERA MEMPHIS: $182k → 17%MEMPHIS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $120k → 17%OPERA MEMPHIS: $175k → 17%MEMPHIS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $108k → 17%OPERA MEMPHIS: $165k → 17%MEMPHIS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $104k → 17%OPERA MEMPHIS: $121k → 17%OPERA MEMPHIS: $100k → 17%OPERA MEMPHIS: $83k → 17%OPERA MEMPHIS: $80k → 17%MEMPHIS MUSIC INITIATIVE: $485k → 17%PLAYHOUSE ON THE SQUARE: $136k → 17%PLAYHOUSE ON THE SQUARE: $135k → 17%PLAYHOUSE ON THE SQUARE: $100k → 17%PLAYHOUSE ON THE SQUARE: $100k → 17%SOULSVILLE FOUNDATION: $145k → 17%SOULSVILLE FOUNDATION: $125k → 17%SOULSVILLE FOUNDATION: $120k → 17%METAL MUSEUM INC: $116k → 17%NATIONAL ORNAMENTAL METAL MUSEUM: $98k → 17%SOULSVILLE FOUNDATION: $90k → 17%NATIONAL ORNAMENTAL METAL MUSEUM: $88k → 17%SOULSVILLE FOUNDATION: $81k → 17%SOULSVILLE FOUNDATION: $80k → 17%NATIONAL ORNAMENTAL METAL MUSEUM: $67k → 17%THEATRE MEMPHIS: $114k → 17%THEATRE MEMPHIS: $98k → 17%THEATRE MEMPHIS: $90k → 17%THEATRE MEMPHIS: $80k → 17%MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART: $381k → 17%MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART: $220k → 17%MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART: $198k → 17%MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART: $180k → 17%MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART: $180k → 17%BALLET MEMPHIS: $175k → 17%BALLET MEMPHIS: $135k → 17%BALLET MEMPHIS: $105k → 17%BALLET MEMPHIS: $100k → 17%BALLET MEMPHIS: $100k → 17%MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART: $90k → 17%MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART: $80k → 17%NEW BALLET ENSEMBLE AND SCHOOL: $73k → 17%NEW BALLET ENSEMBLE AND SCHOOL: $72k → 17%NEW BALLET ENSEMBLE AND SCHOOL: $71k → 17%NEW BALLET ENSEMBLE AND SCHOOL: $70k → 17%COLLAGE DANCE COLLECTIVE: $153k → 17%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

95%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$9.9M · 48 repeat orgs$560k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +13% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

48 repeat relationships: 43 still active in FY2025, 5 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

48
7

Total granted

$9.9M
$536k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+13%
0%

Still filing today

96%
71%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 98% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $24k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’17’18’19’20’23’24’25
Arts & CultureEducationYouth DevelopmentCommunity ImprovementPhilanthropyOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • MB
    Memphis Brooks Museum of Art Inc
    9× · 2017–2025 · $1.3M · revenue +866%
  • SF
    SOULSVILLE FOUNDATION
    9× · 2017–2025 · $696k · revenue +41%
  • MS
    MEMPHIS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $666k · revenue +66%

Funded once

  • ME
    MEMPHIS EQUITY THROUGH ARTS INC
    3× · 2021–2023 · $485k · revenue -86%
  • MS
    Memphis Slim Collaboratory Inc
    3× · 2021–2023 · $12k · revenue +13%
  • LC
    Lorraine Civil Rights Museum Foundationgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $10k · revenue +187%
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Metropolitan Arts Center

To cultivate the arts in Jefferson County and the State of Alabama.

Arts & Culture
2
Memphis Youth Arts Initiative

Art youth initiatives

Arts & Culture
3
Muse Cincinnati Womens Choir

MUSE is an inclusive and feminist choral community advocating for peace and social justice. We unite our voices to raise awareness and inspire change in ourselves, our audiences, and our world through partnerships that honor the humanity…

Arts & Culture
4
Street Theatre Company

Street Theatre Company is a professional non-profit arts organization dedicated to pioneering innovative modern theater in Nashville. Our aim is to engage our audience with universal stories that speak to the human experience and challenge…

Arts & Culture
5
Roots and All Theatre Ensemble
Arts & Culture
6
Opera Huntsville

Entertainment | Opera Performing Arts Organization.

Arts & Culture
7
Paint Memphis Inc

Paint Memphis builds community one wall at a time through public art and our arts education program expanding access and arts education to all Memphians regardless of their location identity socio-economic status or ability. We engage over…

Arts & Culture
8
Iceberg New Music Inc
Arts & Culture
9
Nashville Blues and Roots Alliance
Arts & Culture
10
Nashville Opera Association

To bravely imagine the power and passion of opera and who can sing and enjoy it.

Arts & Culture
11
Birmingham Music Club

Educational & entertaining concert production

Arts & Culture
12
Black Music Entrepreneurship Incubator

Musical Education and Training

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Memphis Equity Through Arts Inc; the most unlike its peers is Memphis Slim Collaboratory Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

62 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
11
Early backer (in before they grew)
58/62
Grantees still filing
33/62
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Memphis Brooks Museum of Art Inc: $1,328,700 · Arts & CultureMemphis Brooks Museum of Art IncOPERA MEMPHIS INC: $905,950 · Arts & CultureOPERA MEMPHIS INCBALLET MEMPHIS CORPORATION: $741,700 · Arts & CultureBALLET MEMPHIS CORPORATIONSOULSVILLE FOUNDATION: $696,000 · Arts & CultureSOULSVILLE FOUNDATIONMEMPHIS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC: $665,600 · Arts & CultureMEMPHIS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INCCIRCUIT PLAYHOUSE INC: $646,000 · Arts & CultureCIRCUIT PLAYHOUSE INCTHEATRE MEMPHIS: $518,100 · Arts & CultureTHEATRE MEMPHISNATIONAL ORNAMENTAL METAL MUSEUM INC: $503,500 · Arts & CultureMEMPHIS EQUITY THROUGH ARTS INC: $485,000 · Arts & CultureNEW BALLET ENSEMBLE INC: $446,100 · Arts & CultureCOLLAGE DANCE COLLECTIVE: $369,330 · Arts & Culture+33 more: $2,330,040 · Arts & Culture+33 moreTHE COLLECTIVE THE CLTV INC: $172,000 · OtherGERMANTOWN PERFORMING ARTS CENTER: $108,500 · OtherMEMPHIS BLACK ARTS ALLIANCE INC: $28,000 · OtherBLUES CITY CULTURAL CENTER INC: $26,000 · OtherArrow Creative Inc: $24,990 · Other+1 more: $6,300 · OtherCARPENTER ART GARDEN: $111,850 · EducationYOUNG ACTORS GUILD INC: $51,900 · EducationTennessee Art Education Association: $7,050 · EducationORPHEUM THEATRE GROUP: $155,200 · Community ImprovementThe Big We: $7,000 · Community ImprovementANGEL STREET INC: $77,940 · Youth DevelopmentArkwings Foundation: $28,000 · Youth DevelopmentARTISTS FOR COMMUNITY TRANSFORMATION INTL: $44,600 · Philanthropy
Arts & Culture$9,636,020Other$365,790Education$170,800Community Improvement$162,200Youth Development$105,940Philanthropy$44,600

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetMemphis Brooks Museum of Art Inc: $1,328,700 over 9y, 5.3% of budgetOPERA MEMPHIS INC: $905,950 over 9y, 18% of budgetBALLET MEMPHIS CORPORATION: $741,700 over 9y, 3.8% of budgetSOULSVILLE FOUNDATION: $696,000 over 9y, 5.8% of budgetMEMPHIS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC: $665,600 over 9y, 6.1% of budgetCIRCUIT PLAYHOUSE INC: $646,000 over 9y, 5.7% of budgetTHEATRE MEMPHIS: $518,100 over 9y, 6.1% of budgetNATIONAL ORNAMENTAL METAL MUSEUM INC: $503,500 over 9y, 6.8% of budgetMEMPHIS EQUITY THROUGH ARTS INC: $485,000 over 3y, 20% of budgetNEW BALLET ENSEMBLE INC: $446,100 over 9y, 4.1% of budgetCOLLAGE DANCE COLLECTIVE: $369,330 over 9y, 2.5% of budgetHATTILOO THEATRE: $231,725 over 9y, 3.0% of budgetINDIE MEMPHIS: $215,810 over 9y, 25% of budgetTHE OVERTON PARK SHELL INC: $169,500 over 9y, 2.6% of budgetThe Blues Foundation Inc: $157,000 over 9y, 2.1% of budgetORPHEUM THEATRE GROUP: $155,200 over 9y, 0.3% of budgetTENNESSEE SHAKESPEARE COMPANY: $144,100 over 9y, 3.8% of budgetTHE URBANART COMMISSION: $136,500 over 8y, 4.6% of budgetIRIS ORCHESTRA INC: $114,740 over 9y, 4.4% of budgetCARPENTER ART GARDEN: $111,850 over 7y, 7.7% of budgetGERMANTOWN PERFORMING ARTS CENTER: $108,500 over 8y, 1.0% of budgetCREATIVE AGING MEMPHIS: $107,750 over 8y, 9.5% of budgetMusic Export Memphis: $106,000 over 5y, 18% of budgetMemphis Rock N Soul Museum Inc: $85,750 over 9y, 1.9% of budgetCrosstown Arts: $84,050 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetPRIZM ENSEMBLE INC: $83,670 over 9y, 11% of budgetEverystory: $83,050 over 8y, 3.5% of budgetBEALE STREET CARAVAN INC: $79,350 over 5y, 12% of budgetANGEL STREET INC: $77,940 over 7y, 5.7% of budgetCAZATEATRO BILNGUAL THEATER GROUP: $53,950 over 5y, 9.2% of budgetYOUNG ACTORS GUILD INC: $51,900 over 5y, 4.0% of budgetPERFECTING GIFTS INCORPORATED: $48,200 over 5y, 21% of budgetLee Jazz Omega Inc Memphis Jazz Workshop: $45,500 over 5y, 4.9% of budgetVOICES OF THE SOUTH: $45,380 over 2y, 20% of budgetGERMANTOWN COMMUNITY THEATRE INC: $44,600 over 6y, 3.5% of budgetARTISTS FOR COMMUNITY TRANSFORMATION INTL: $44,600 over 5y, 0.9% of budgetHARMONIC SOUTH STRING ORCHESTRA INC: $42,100 over 4y, 14% of budgetMEMPHIS YOUTH SYMPHONY PROGRAM: $36,730 over 4y, 4.6% of budgetNEW DAY CHILDREN'S THEATRE INC: $36,100 over 6y, 5.3% of budgetRIVERARTSFEST INC: $33,550 over 5y, 4.1% of budgetCROSSTOWN RADIO PARTNERSHIP INC: $29,565 over 2y, 1.9% of budgetArkwings Foundation: $28,000 over 3y, 37% of budgetMEMPHIS BLACK ARTS ALLIANCE INC: $28,000 over 4y, 3.7% of budgetMemphis Choralarts: $26,320 over 3y, 14% of budgetBLUES CITY CULTURAL CENTER INC: $26,000 over 7y, 6.3% of budgetArrow Creative Inc: $24,990 over 4y, 2.6% of budgetON LOCATION MEMPHIS INC: $20,000 over 5y, 13% of budgetDOWNTOWN DREAM MACHINE D/B/A THEATREWORKS: $14,500 over 4y, 9.8% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

  • Who funds Memphis Brooks Museum of Art Inc ↗
  • Who funds OPERA MEMPHIS INC ↗
  • Who funds BALLET MEMPHIS CORPORATION ↗
  • Who funds SOULSVILLE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds MEMPHIS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC ↗
  • Who funds CIRCUIT PLAYHOUSE INC ↗
  • Who funds THEATRE MEMPHIS ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL ORNAMENTAL METAL MUSEUM INC ↗
  • Who funds MEMPHIS EQUITY THROUGH ARTS INC ↗
  • Who funds NEW BALLET ENSEMBLE INC ↗
  • Who funds COLLAGE DANCE COLLECTIVE ↗
  • Who funds HATTILOO THEATRE ↗
  • Who funds INDIE MEMPHIS ↗
  • Who funds THE COLLECTIVE THE CLTV INC ↗
  • Who funds THE OVERTON PARK SHELL INC ↗
  • Who funds The Blues Foundation Inc ↗
  • Who funds ORPHEUM THEATRE GROUP ↗
  • Who funds TENNESSEE SHAKESPEARE COMPANY ↗
  • Who funds THE URBANART COMMISSION ↗
  • Who funds IRIS ORCHESTRA INC ↗
  • Who funds CARPENTER ART GARDEN ↗
  • Who funds GERMANTOWN PERFORMING ARTS CENTER ↗
  • Who funds CREATIVE AGING MEMPHIS ↗
  • Who funds Music Export Memphis ↗
  • Who funds Memphis Rock N Soul Museum Inc ↗
  • Who funds Crosstown Arts ↗
  • Who funds PRIZM ENSEMBLE INC ↗
  • Who funds Everystory ↗
  • Who funds BEALE STREET CARAVAN INC ↗
  • Who funds ANGEL STREET INC ↗
  • Who funds CAZATEATRO BILNGUAL THEATER GROUP ↗
  • Who funds YOUNG ACTORS GUILD INC ↗
  • Who funds PERFECTING GIFTS INCORPORATED ↗
  • Who funds Lee Jazz Omega Inc Memphis Jazz Workshop ↗
  • Who funds VOICES OF THE SOUTH ↗
  • Who funds GERMANTOWN COMMUNITY THEATRE INC ↗
  • Who funds ARTISTS FOR COMMUNITY TRANSFORMATION INTL ↗
  • Who funds HARMONIC SOUTH STRING ORCHESTRA INC ↗
  • Who funds MEMPHIS YOUTH SYMPHONY PROGRAM ↗
  • Who funds NEW DAY CHILDREN'S THEATRE INC ↗

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Community Foundation …Thomas W Briggs Found…Jr Hyde III Family Fo…Christian Community F…Memphis Equity Throug…The Assisi Foundation…Plough FoundationJewish Foundation of …Humanities TennesseeThe Kemmons Wilson Fa…Adams Arthur & Alice …Rose Montgomery Johns…
Community Foundation of Greater Memphis IncTN86.6× affinity48 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Community Foundation of Greater Memphis Inc · Thomas W Briggs Foundation Inc · Jr Hyde III Family Foundation · Christian Community Foundation of Memphis · Memphis Equity Through Arts Inc · The Assisi Foundation of Memphis Inc · Plough Foundation · Jewish Foundation of Memphis · Humanities Tennessee · The Kemmons Wilson Family Foundation · Adams Arthur & Alice Fdn · Rose Montgomery Johnston Family Foundation

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Artsmemphis funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Artsmemphis. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%3%10%23%40%funder's share of their income ↑0%4%8%11%15%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    16report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–15%
    typical government reliance, FY20–25
    How this is measured
    Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 58 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

    How this is measured
    Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

    Generated from the IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Artsmemphis’ filings →

    More from the funding graph

    The unnamed billions
    grants reported with no recipient in the public record
    The regranting layer
    51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
    The DAF merry-go-round
    $9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
    The endowment market
    who holds foundation money, and what just moved
    The camps
    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
    By state
    where grant money is based, and what stays home