Washington · Nonprofit
SYLVIA CENTER FOR THE ARTS
SYLVIA CENTER FOR THE ARTS (Washington) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $71,722 to it, the largest being WHATCOM COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ($31,600). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $288k
- Funders on record
- 5
- Grants received
- $72k
- Net assets
- $0
What Sylvia Center for the Arts does
Mission
A hub for creative and cultural expression on the shore of the Salish Sea, inspiring community engagement and empathy through shared experiences. Also, a space to get weird.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
On its FY2023 return the organization reported a significant change in how it conducts a program.
As previously reported in the 990 for the 2022-2023 Fiscal Year, the Sylvia Center for the Arts did a thorough review of its finances, and determined them to be unsustainable, with its ability to derive further income or receive donations significantly hampered. In June 2022, the Board made the difficult decision to begin steps toward dissolution. The final performance of a rental show occurred on September 10, 2022 - staff were laid off and the space vacated by September 15, 2022. Articles of Dissolution were submitted to the WA Secretary of State by December 31, 2023. Confirmation of filing on April 5, 2023. The only business in 2023-2024 has been winding down activities, including disposing of limited assets towards unpaid debt and necessary tax reporting.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 3).
Na
$0 spentOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$0 spent
The 2 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $0.
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.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2022 to 2023, from $399k to $2k (−100%).
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: 2018 0% · 2022 42% · 2024 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2022: the base broadened from 1 funder to 2 funders, grant income rose $11k → $20k.
2 of 5 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 44% 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 SYLVIA CENTER FOR THE ARTS’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
SYLVIA CENTER FOR THE ARTS leans on a few funders — its largest provides 44% of grant income and the top three 93%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
93% 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 SYLVIA CENTER FOR THE ARTS.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 100% · 2019 100% · 2020 100% · 2021 100% · 2022 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
56% of SYLVIA CENTER FOR THE ARTS's grant income comes from Washington funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $32k 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.
Organizations like SYLVIA CENTER FOR THE ARTS
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 Washington
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
0% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
63%
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 SYLVIA CENTER FOR THE ARTS: 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 SYLVIA CENTER FOR THE ARTS?
- SYLVIA CENTER FOR THE ARTS (Washington) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $71,722 to it, the largest being WHATCOM COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ($31,600). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does SYLVIA CENTER FOR THE ARTS have?
- IRS filings report 5 organizations giving $71,722 in grants to SYLVIA CENTER FOR THE ARTS, 3 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SYLVIA CENTER FOR THE ARTS?
- WHATCOM COMMUNITY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $31,600 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SYLVIA CENTER FOR THE ARTS find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington. 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 Sylvia Center for the Arts →
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 5 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