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Ellsworth Kelly Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

Ellsworth Kelly Foundation Inc

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$4.5M
Granted FY2023
36
Grants FY2023
21
States reached
$2.5M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2023.

Arts & Culture$17MEnvironment$910kPublic Benefit$250kCivil Rights$200kCommunity Improvement$100kEducation$100kPhilanthropy$50kOther$0
02FY2023 · 36 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2023

  • $10k–50k1 grant · $10k
  • $50k–250k34 grants · $1.9M
  • $250k+1 grant · $2.5M
$50,000
Median grant
21
States reached
$41M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART$2,500,000
MUSEUM OF CONTEMPRARY ART$100,000
SAN FRANSICO MUSUM OF MODERN ART$100,000
ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO$100,000
MUSEUM OF MORDEN ART$100,000
PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART$100,000
MILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM$50,000
DALLAS MUSEUM OF ART$50,000
VIRGINIA MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS$50,000
BALTIMORE MUSEUM OF ART$50,000
WADSWORTH ATHENEUM MUSEUM$50,000
YALE UNIVERSITY ART GALLERY$50,000
DES MOINES ART CENTER$50,000
RHODE ISLAND SCHOOL OF DESIGN$50,000
NELSON ATKINS MUSEUM$50,000
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 (FY17–23) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 59% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%ADDISON GALLERY OF AMERICAN ART: $100k → 10%BERKSHIRE TACONIC COMMUNITY FOUND: $100k → 12%MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS BOSTON: $100k → 16%WALKER ART CENTER: $100k → 11%PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART: $2.5M → 22%SAN FRANSICO MUSUM OF MODERN ART: $100k → 10%FRANCIS YOUNG TANG TEACHING MUSEUM: $250k → 7%THE HYDE COLLECTION: $100k → 10%SHAKER MUSEUM AND LIBRARY: $1.1M → 11%WMHT PUBLIC BROADCASTING: $100k → 11%STORM KING ART CENTER: $100k → 14%WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART: $1.0M → 17%BLANTON MUSEUM OF ART: $100k → 10%KIMBELL ART MUSEUM: $100k → 11%DALLAS MUSEUM OF ART: $100k → 14%ALABAMA AFRICAN AMERICAN CIVIL RIGH: $100k → 16%ST LOUIS ART MUSEUM FOUNDATION: $3.0M → 21%WADSWORTH ATHENEUM MUSEUM OF ART: $100k → 11%SEATTLE ART MUSEUM: $100k → 9%ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $100k → 14%HARVARD ART MUSEUM: $250k → 8%WALKER ART CENTER: $100k → 11%PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART: $100k → 22%SAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM OF MODERN ART: $100k → 10%FRANCIS YOUNG TANG TEACHING MUSEUM: $250k → 7%SHAKER MUSEUM AND LIBRARY: $1.0M → 11%WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART: $750k → 17%BLANTON MUSEUM OF ART: $100k → 10%ALABAMA AFRICAN AMERICAN CIVIL RIGHTS: $100k → 16%ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $100k → 14%HARVARD UNIVERSITY MUSEUMS: $100k → 8%PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART: $100k → 22%HAMMER MUSEUM: $100k → 14%FRANCIS YOUNG TANG TEACHING MUSEUM: $100k → 7%TOWN OF AUSTERLITZ: $700k → 11%WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART: $100k → 17%ST LOUIS ART MUSEUM FOUNDATION: $200k → 21%ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $100k → 14%PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART: $100k → 22%FRIENDS OF HISTORIC ST PETERS: $150k → 11%LOS ANGELES COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART: $100k → 14%COLUMBIA LAND CONSERVANCY: $500k → 11%COLUMBIA LAND CONSERVANCY: $400k → 11%WORLD MONUMENTS FUND: $100k → 17%CRANDELL THEATRE: $200k → 11%SHAKER MUSEUM: $100k → 11%ART OMI: $137k → 11%TOWN OF AUSTERLITZ GRANT AWARD 2022: $200k → 11%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.

Which US states its grants reach

NH
WA
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
IA
OH
PA
CT
RI
CA
MO
VA
MD
AR
DC
AL
GA
TX
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.

74%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$14M · 18 repeat orgs$5.0M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +45% since the first grant, against +39% for those funded once.

18 repeat relationships: 9 still active in FY2023, 9 since wound down; 25 grantees were first funded in FY2023 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

18
36

Total granted

$14M
$3.7M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+45%
+39%

Still filing today

78%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2023, 71% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1.3M went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23
Arts & CultureEducationEnvironmentInternationalCommunity ImprovementOther
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

  • SL
    ST LOUIS ART MUSEUM FOUNDATION
    2× · 2021–2022 · $3.2M · revenue +31%
  • PM
    PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART
    4× · 2017–2023 · $2.8M · revenue +14%
  • WM
    WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART
    5× · 2018–2022 · $1.9M · revenue +125%

Funded once

  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2017 · $700k
  • HA
    HARVARD ART MUSEUM
    one grant, 2019 · $250k
  • CT
    CRANDELL THEATRE INCgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $200k · revenue +82% · 31% of their budget
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
Clyfford Still Museum

Home to the art and legacy of the american painter clyfford still, we invite all to explore the potential of individual creative endeavor.

Arts & Culture
2
Henry E Huntington Library and Art Gallery

The huntington library, art museum, and botanical gardens shares its world-renowned collections to support scholarship, foster learning, inspire creativity, and offer transformative experiences for diverse audiences.

Arts & Culture
3
Art Explorium
—
4
Museum of the City of New York

The museum of the city of new york fosters understanding of the distinctive nature of urban life in the world's most influential metropolis. it engages visitors by celebrating, documenting, and interpreting the city's past, present, and…

Arts & Culture
5
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Inc

Organization's mission statement true to the ambitious vision of its founder and her spirit of creative risk-taking, the mission of the isabella stewart gardner museum is: - to bring to life and preserve the rich historic collection; - to…

Arts & Culture
6
Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute

Munson-williams-proctor arts institute (mwpai) is a fine arts center dedicated to serving diverse audiences by advancing the appreciation, understanding, and enjoyment of the arts. the art institute aims to promote interest and…

Arts & Culture
7
Kadist Collection Manager Inc
Arts & Culture
8
Solomon R Guggenheim Foundation

Committed to innovation, the solomon r. guggenheim foundation (the "foundation") collects, (continued on schedule o)

Arts & Culture
9
The Studio Museum in Harlem

The studio museum in harlem is a contemporary art museum that focuses on the work of artists of african descent - as well as work that has been inspired and influenced by african culture - past and present; through its exhibitions,…

Arts & Culture
10
San Diego Museum of Art

To inspire, educate and cultivate curiosity through great works of art.

Arts & Culture
11
Museum of Collections
Arts & Culture
12
The Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences

The mission of the brooklyn institute of arts and sciences, d/b/a brooklyn museum (the "museum") is to bring people together through art and experiences that inspire celebration, compassion, courage, and the will to act. (see schedule o).

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Milwaukee Art Museum Inc; the most unlike its peers is The Broad. 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

46 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. 46 of the 81 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

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

3
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
46/46
Grantees still filing
32/46
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ST LOUIS ART MUSEUM FOUNDATION: $3,161,025 · Arts & CultureST LOUIS ART MUSEUM FOUNDATIONPHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART: $2,825,000 · Arts & CulturePHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ARTSHAKER MUSEUM AND LIBRARY: $2,100,000 · Arts & CultureSHAKER MUSEUM AND LIBRARYWHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART: $1,925,000 · Arts & CultureWHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART+30 more: $2,960,000 · Arts & Culture+30 moreIndividual grant recipient: $700,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientFRANCIS YOUNG TANG TEACHING MUSEUM: $650,000 · OtherFRANCIS YOUNG TANG TEACHIN…HARVARD ART MUSEUM: $250,000 · OtherHARVARD ART MUSEUMBLANTON MUSEUM OF ART: $250,000 · OtherBLANTON MUSEUM OF ARTTOWN OF AUSTERLITZ GRANT AWARD 2022: $200,000 · OtherFRIENDS OF HISTORIC ST PETERS: $150,000 · OtherADDISON GALLERY OF AMERICAN ART: $150,000 · OtherMUSEUM OF FINE ARTS BOSTON: $150,000 · Other+30 more: $1,930,000 · Other+30 moreCOLUMBIA LAND CONSERVANCY INC: $900,000 · Environment+1 more: $10,000 · EnvironmentTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $300,000 · EducationThe Pierpont Morgan Library: $50,000 · EducationYale University: $50,000 · EducationRHODE ISLAND SCHOOL OF DESIGN: $50,000 · EducationART OMI INC: $237,000 · InternationalBERKSHIRE TACONIC COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $100,000 · PhilanthropyPULITZER ARTS FOUNDATION: $50,000 · Community Improvement
Arts & Culture$12,971,025Other$4,430,000Environment$910,000Education$450,000International$237,000Philanthropy$100,000Community Improvement$50,000

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetST LOUIS ART MUSEUM FOUNDATION: $3,161,025 over 2y, 18% of budgetPHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART: $2,825,000 over 4y, 2.3% of budgetSHAKER MUSEUM AND LIBRARY: $2,100,000 over 2y, 45% of budgetWHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART: $1,925,000 over 5y, 1.2% of budgetCOLUMBIA LAND CONSERVANCY INC: $900,000 over 2y, 11% of budgetMuseum of Modern Art: $400,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $300,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetWALKER ART CENTER: $250,000 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetART OMI INC: $237,000 over 2y, 3.9% of budgetCRANDELL THEATRE INC: $200,000 over 1y, 31% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM OF MODERN ART: $200,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetWADSWORTH ATHENEUM MUSEUM OF ART: $150,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetDallas Museum of Art: $150,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetSEATTLE ART MUSEUM: $150,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetTHE JEWISH MUSEUM: $100,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetARMAND HAMMER MUSEUM OF ART AND CULTURAL CENTER INC: $100,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetAUSTERLITZ HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $100,000 over 1y, 57% of budgetSTUDIO IN A SCHOOL ASSOCIATION INC: $100,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetTHE PHILLIPS COLLECTION: $100,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetSTORM KING ART CENTER: $100,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetWORCESTER ART MUSEUM: $50,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetNational Gallery of Art: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEdmundson Art Foundation Inc: $50,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetThe Pierpont Morgan Library: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetROBERT W WOODRUFF ARTS CENTER INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMenil Foundation Inc: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ARTS: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPULITZER ARTS FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetCLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS HOUSTON: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetMETROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetYale University: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BROAD: $50,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetWMHT EDUCATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetBUFFALO FINE ARTS ACADEMY: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBALTIMORE MUSEUM OF ART: $50,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCINCINNATI MUSEUM ASSOCIATION: $50,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetRHODE ISLAND SCHOOL OF DESIGN: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMADISON SQUARE PARK CONSERVANCY INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE DRAWING CENTER INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetINTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR ART RESEARCH INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.9% 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 ST LOUIS ART MUSEUM FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART ↗
  • Who funds SHAKER MUSEUM AND LIBRARY ↗
  • Who funds WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART ↗
  • Who funds COLUMBIA LAND CONSERVANCY INC ↗
  • Who funds Museum of Modern Art ↗
  • Who funds THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO ↗
  • Who funds WALKER ART CENTER ↗
  • Who funds ART OMI INC ↗
  • Who funds CRANDELL THEATRE INC ↗
  • Who funds SAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM OF MODERN ART ↗
  • Who funds WADSWORTH ATHENEUM MUSEUM OF ART ↗
  • Who funds Dallas Museum of Art ↗
  • Who funds SEATTLE ART MUSEUM ↗
  • Who funds THE JEWISH MUSEUM ↗
  • Who funds ARMAND HAMMER MUSEUM OF ART AND CULTURAL CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds WORLD MONUMENTS FUND INC ↗
  • Who funds AUSTERLITZ HISTORICAL SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds STUDIO IN A SCHOOL ASSOCIATION INC ↗
  • Who funds MUSEUM ASSOCIATES ↗
  • Who funds THE PHILLIPS COLLECTION ↗
  • Who funds STORM KING ART CENTER ↗
  • Who funds BERKSHIRE TACONIC COMMUNITY FOUNDATION 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.

T Backer Fund IncBank of Greene County…The Jm Kaplan Fund IncJewish Communal FundIbm International Fou…The Non Nobis Solum F…Berkshire Taconic Com…National Philanthropi…The Pfizer Foundation…Morgan Stanley Global…The Bank of America C…Vanguard Charitable E…
T Backer Fund IncMA17.9× affinity6 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: T Backer Fund Inc · Bank of Greene County Charitable Foundation · The Jm Kaplan Fund Inc · Jewish Communal Fund · Ibm International Foundation · The Non Nobis Solum Foundation Inc · Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · The Pfizer Foundation Inc · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program

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 Ellsworth Kelly Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Ellsworth Kelly Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%3%13%28%50%funder's share of their income ↑0%8%15%22%30%share of the org’s income from government →median 4%
  • Yale University: 12% of income from government
  • Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art: 5% of income from government
  • Baltimore Museum of Art: 4% of income from government
  • Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Worcester Art Museum: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
9report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–30%
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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Ellsworth Kelly Foundation Inc?

Find your warmest path to Ellsworth Kelly Foundation Inc through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

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 81 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-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2023, released 2023. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2024) is on record and reports no grant expense, so the figures above are from FY2023, the most recent year this funder made grants.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Ellsworth Kelly’s 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