California · Nonprofit
AUTRY MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN WEST
AUTRY MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN WEST (California) receives grants from 88 organizations whose IRS filings report $9,230,940 to it, the largest being THE J PAUL GETTY TRUST ($908,175). 50 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $12M
- Funders on record
- 88
- Grants received
- $9.2M
- Net assets
- $177M
What Autry Museum of the American West does
Mission
The autry brings together the stories of all peoples of the american west, connecting the past with the present to inspire our shared future. The autry creates provocative, engaging, and compelling museum experiences that increase people's understanding (continued in sch o)of each other and america, help the community ask and answer important questions about the most pressing issues of society, and promote solutions beneficial to the greater good.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
The autry museum's galleries and online platforms tell diverse and complicated stories of the american west. Temporary onsite exhibitions that opened in 2023 included the annual masters of the american west art exhibition and sale; sherman indian school: 100+ years of education and resilience; and reclaiming el camino: native resistance in the missions and beyond the museum experience continues in the permanent galleries, which explore other histories and communities of the west. "imagined wests," which opened in 2023 in the newly renovated imagination gallery, travels through western storytelling landscapes, through retellings of history, and through the craft of many 'west makers' from tailors to actors. The gallery also explores 'the view from here,' a focus on southern california's (continued in schedule o)role as a place for stories. The art of the west gallery showcases the dynamic and evolving world of art that springs from the cultural practices of some of the many peoples who have shaped and continue to shape the american west. The cowboy gallery details the evolution of the cowboy from the open range to the era of the texas trail drives and ranching on the plains. The…
$14,134,877 spent$351,162 earned by the program86% of program spendingThe autry promotes research and educational activities, encourages the development of groundbreaking scholarship, and reaches a broad audience through programs and publications. Its research library provides exemplary stewardship of the renowned library and archives collections, inspires scholarship by a multidisciplinary research community, and fuels discussion about the past, present, and future of the american west. Autry research fellowships are awarded annually to support scholarly projects concerning the study of people and cultures of the american west.
$435,731 spentof which $7,500 as grants3% of program spendingThe education department is dedicated to enriching the experience of all visitors through thoughtful, entertaining and engaging classes, programs and activities. Throughout 2023, which includes the second semester of the 2022-2022 academic year and the first semester of the 2023-2024 academic year, the autry served 6,871 k-12 students in-person, including students from title I schools who came through the all-aboard bus program. In 2023, the autry served 613 k-12 students with virtual classes. Through online, via digital tours, lessons, primary source collections, and other interactive features, the autry education department served 14,793 unique users online in 2023. The autry education department also resumed its outreach programs in which museum educators go into (continued in schedule o)classrooms across los angeles county. Through the autry in residence program, the autry served 6,916 third, fourth, and fifth grade students. Through the autry classroom curators outreach program, the autry served 1,476 k-16 students. The education department offers programs exploring diverse aspects of life in the west through the autry's art and artifacts and meets california state content…
$1,144,498 spent$14,848 earned by the program7% of program spendingNative voices: the autry's resident theatre company and the sole actors' equity theatre in the country is devoted to developing and producing new works for the stage by native american, alaska native, native hawaiian, and first nations playwrights. It is widely respected in native american and theatre communities for developing native playwrights and theatre artists, telling native stories by and about native people, and providing the public access to these plays and playwrights. Native voices performances and readings take place inside the autry's theatre, with recordings of select readings of short plays and plays in development also available to audiences. Popular autry public programs include the long-running 'what is a western?' film series which explores the wide range of movies that can be considered westerns, and the ways in which they shape our understanding of the american west. Each screening includes a guest lecturer to introduce the film and its significance in the genre.community building was a focus of public programming in 2023, putting an extra push into reengaging with local audiences whose cultural habits were interrupted by the pandemic shutdown. Most…
$636,099 spent$304,197 earned by the program4% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $16,351,205.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2021 to 2022, from $226M to $193M (−15%).
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: 2017 6% · 2018 5% · 2019 1% · 2020 8% · 2021 16% · 2022 35% · 2023 35% · 2024 2%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
86% of AUTRY MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN WEST’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (58% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 6 of the last 8 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.
Chief executive
Stephen Aron
President & CEO
Board chair
Jodie Rea
Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 22 funders to 35 funders, grant income rose $287k → $1.4M.
13 of 88 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 19% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $8.1M from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Autry Foundation). These are real filings, and they are not money AUTRY MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN WEST raised.
From the IRS filings of AUTRY MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN WEST’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 88 funders by total. 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
AUTRY MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN WEST has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 10% of grant income, and it takes 8 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 8 funders to its left
25% 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 AUTRY MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN WEST.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 18% · 2018 41% · 2019 25% · 2020 24% · 2021 26% · 2022 17% · 2023 18% — broadly stable.
“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
39% of AUTRY MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN WEST's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 57% 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
71% of AUTRY MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN WEST's grant income comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.8M arriving through sponsors registered in 8 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.
Against its field
AUTRY MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN WEST's funding base is broadening — from 22 funders to 35 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 772 arts & culture nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Government funding AUTRY MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN WEST receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $2.4M on record.
- National Endowment for the Humanities$985k
- Institute of Museum and Library Services$571k
- National Endowment for the Arts$425k
- Department of the Interior$410k
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration$16k
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 AUTRY MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN WEST
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 California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
80% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
52%
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 AUTRY MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN WEST: 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 AUTRY MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN WEST?
- AUTRY MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN WEST (California) receives grants from 88 organizations whose IRS filings report $9,230,940 to it, the largest being THE J PAUL GETTY TRUST ($908,175). 50 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does AUTRY MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN WEST have?
- IRS filings report 88 organizations giving $9,230,940 in grants to AUTRY MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN WEST, 50 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of AUTRY MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN WEST?
- THE J PAUL GETTY TRUST is the largest funder on record, with $908,175 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like AUTRY MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN WEST find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. 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 Autry Museum of the American West →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 88 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing