Minnesota · Nonprofit
OPEN ARTS MINNESOTA
OPEN ARTS MINNESOTA (Minnesota) receives grants from 2 organizations whose IRS filings report $12,000 to it, the largest being Juanita E Schmeeckle Charitable Trust ($7,000). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $82k
- Funders on record
- 2
- Grants received
- $12k
- Net assets
- $17k
What Open Arts Minnesota does
Mission
Open Arts Minnesota creates and fosters inclusive artistic activities for people with disabilities who are of diverse abilities and ages seeking opportunities to discover their unique creative gifts, develop and practice skills, and share their creations in a supportive, compassionate environment.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990-EZ.
Programs
Expansion and impact of the In-Person Theatre Programs. In 2025, Open Arts Minnesota significantly expanded its inperson theatre programming across Mankato, New Ulm, and Fairmont, providing consistent creative opportunities for actors with disabilities. These programs offered regular rehearsals, public performances, and community arts participation, resulting in substantial engagement throughout the year. The Aktion Club Theatre of Mankato recorded 484 participant engagements, the United We Stand Players of New Ulm recorded 230 participant engagements, and the Aktion Club Theatre of Fairmont recorded 693 participant engagements, with Fairmont nearly doubling in size as rehearsals for a new play began. These programs not only strengthened acting skills and confidence but also connected participants with their communities through events such as variety shows, fairs, and Disability Pride celebrations.
$21,117 spentof which $30,000 as grants60% of program spendingInternational Recognition for Disability Leadership and Storytelling. In 2025, Open Arts Minnesota received international recognition when it was featured in a published book on disability and violence prevention titled Flipping the Story on Disability and Violence: People with Intellectual Disability and Allies Leading the Change. The book highlighted OAM as an organization dedicated to amplifying the voices of people with disabilities and included the personal story of the organizations Artistic Assistant. This acknowledgment elevated OAMs work to a global audience, validating its approach to inclusive arts, empowerment, and storytelling as a model for disability leadership and creative expression.
$7,038 spentof which $10,000 as grants20% of program spendingLeadership in Disability Pride, Advocacy, and Community Education. Open Arts Minnesota played a major leadership role in disability advocacy throughout 2025 by organizing and participating in regional Disability Pride events and statewide initiatives. The organization coordinated the Disability Pride art show at the Carnegie Art Center and collaborated with The Arc Minnesota and Advocating Change Together on multiple Pride activities. Two Mankato actors completed the Olmstead Academy and delivered trainings on the Olmstead Decision to two MRCI day services groups, while four actors from New Ulm and Mankato were supported in participating in the statewide Disability Jamboree. These efforts elevated the voices of people with disabilities, strengthened community understanding of disability rights, and positioned OAM participants as educators and leaders.
$7,039 spentof which $10,000 as grants20% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990-EZ. Program spending in total: $35,194.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2022, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2022, 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 at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2022 to 2023, from $15k to $28k (+78%).
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.
99% of OPEN ARTS MINNESOTA’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (78% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 4 reported years ran a deficit.
Leadership and staff
Chief executive
Wilbur Neushwander-Frink
Executive Director
Board chair
Shannon Sinning
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990-EZ.
Who funds it, year by year
2019 → 2023: the base held at 1 funder, grant income fell $5k → $3k.
1 of 2 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 42% 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 OPEN ARTS MINNESOTA’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
OPEN ARTS MINNESOTA leans on a few funders — its largest provides 58% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
42% 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 OPEN ARTS MINNESOTA.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2019 100% · 2023 100% — 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.
Where its funders are
100% of OPEN ARTS MINNESOTA's grant income comes from Minnesota funders.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $5k arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state 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
OPEN ARTS MINNESOTA has grown faster than three-quarters of the 10,242 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 10,242 arts & culture nonprofits under $100k, FY2025
Organizations like OPEN ARTS MINNESOTA
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 Minnesota
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Public support
100%
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 OPEN ARTS MINNESOTA: 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 OPEN ARTS MINNESOTA?
- OPEN ARTS MINNESOTA (Minnesota) receives grants from 2 organizations whose IRS filings report $12,000 to it, the largest being Juanita E Schmeeckle Charitable Trust ($7,000). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does OPEN ARTS MINNESOTA have?
- IRS filings report 2 organizations giving $12,000 in grants to OPEN ARTS MINNESOTA, 1 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of OPEN ARTS MINNESOTA?
- Juanita E Schmeeckle Charitable Trust is the largest funder on record, with $7,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like OPEN ARTS MINNESOTA find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Minnesota. 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 Open Arts Minnesota →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2022–2025), and the filings of 2 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