Illinois · Nonprofit
ART ENCOUNTER
ART ENCOUNTER (Illinois) receives grants from 26 organizations whose IRS filings report $430,555 to it, the largest being The Chicago Community Trust ($120,750). 14 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $598k
- Funders on record
- 26
- Grants received
- $431k
- Net assets
- $556k
What Art Encounter does
Mission
The organization mission is to educate, empower, and connect people of all ages and backgrounds through interactive encounters with visual art. The organization believes that there are many ways to see, and that art can be a powerful vehicle to better understand ourselves and the world around us.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Mural Arts - The goal of the program is to uplift and beautify neighborhoods with mural art through creative partnerships with community organizations, schools, and business districts. The Organization pairs professional artists with community members and youth to create large-scale public works of art that last for years to come.
$119,267 spent$105,932 earned by the program30% of program spendingOutreach School - School programs are at the heart of community engagement to bring art to youth across the Chicago area. The Organization empowers students from a broad range of backgrounds through engaging explorations of art that critical thinking, creativity, and self-discovery. Its signature approach of discussing original artworks embraces individual perceptions, while hands-on workshops build self-confidence and a deeper understanding of the creative process.
$93,765 spent$50,345 earned by the program23% of program spendingNon-Local Travel Tours - Trips offer the change to experience the art world in a fresh and stimulating new way. The Organization organizes unique and diverse opportunities for global exploration, provide otherwise unattainable access to private collections, artist studios, museums, and galleries, plus authentic local food and culture, all led by knowledgeable and experienced professional teaching artist.
$89,308 spent$62,049 earned by the program22% of program spendingLocal Art Tours - The programs provide exclusive access to private collections, galleries, museums, and artist studios with discussions led using the signature Art Encounter method. Programs are offered throughout the year for the general public.
$72,120 spent$42,130 earned by the program18% of program spendingOutreach Adults/Seniors - The programs in senior homes bring creativity and connection to adults residing in assisted living facilities through hands-on projects and discussion of artworks from the Organizations professional collection.
$27,059 spent$4,360 earned by the program7% of program spending
The 5 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $401,519.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2020, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2020, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2020 to 2021, from $445k to $558k (+25%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2020 2% · 2021 35% · 2022 15% · 2023 3% · 2024 7% · 2025 3%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 6 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 4 funders to 10 funders, grant income rose $3k → $56k.
5 of 26 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 49% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of ART ENCOUNTER’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
ART ENCOUNTER has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 28% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
52% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund ART ENCOUNTER.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 71% · 2018 97% · 2019 48% · 2020 41% · 2021 50% · 2022 37% · 2023 44% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
36% of ART ENCOUNTER's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 54% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
84% of ART ENCOUNTER's grant income comes from Illinois funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $209k arriving through sponsors registered in 4 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Government funding ART ENCOUNTER receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $25k on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$25k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like ART ENCOUNTER
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Illinois
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
70% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
95%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for ART ENCOUNTER: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds ART ENCOUNTER?
- ART ENCOUNTER (Illinois) receives grants from 26 organizations whose IRS filings report $430,555 to it, the largest being The Chicago Community Trust ($120,750). 14 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does ART ENCOUNTER have?
- IRS filings report 26 organizations giving $430,555 in grants to ART ENCOUNTER, 14 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of ART ENCOUNTER?
- The Chicago Community Trust is the largest funder on record, with $120,750 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like ART ENCOUNTER find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Illinois. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Art Encounter →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2020–2025), and the filings of 26 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing