Ohio · Nonprofit
The Contemporary Arts Center
The Contemporary Arts Center (Ohio) receives grants from 74 organizations whose IRS filings report $7,274,381 to it, the largest being JOHN J & MARY R SCHIFF FOUNDATION ($1,350,000). 42 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $3.2M
- Funders on record
- 74
- Grants received
- $7.3M
- Net assets
- $24M
What The Contemporary Arts Center does
Mission
The CAC is a lab for understanding ourselves, others, and the world around us through the experience and creation of all contemporary art forms.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
As the premier venue in the Cincinnati region for contemporary art, the Contemporary Arts Center (CAC) is a place for displaying, learning about, and making art. The CAC's exhibition program catalyzes dialogue and discovery in Greater Cincinnati by presenting five to seven major exhibitions of cutting-edge contemporary art each year to over 35,000 individuals in our Zaha Hadid-designed building located in the center of downtown Cincinnati.
$1,514,741 spent$11,213 earned by the program48% of program spendingThe Contemporary Arts Center (CAC) aims to provide critical reflection and interpretation of today's culture, challenge conventional wisdom and experience, encourage social engagement, preserve cultural history, and create experiences for connecting with others. The CAC produces a range of educational programs that aid our visitors in exploring and engaging with our exhibitions. These reach more than 19,000 individuals of all ages and backgrounds, including roughly 3,000 underserved Cincinnati teens. Educational programs for students and teachers feature content aligned with state and national academic standards. Other programs are designed for homeschooled children, teens, adult learners, and seniors experiencing memory loss. Additionally, the CAC's Creativity Center is an interactive art gallery and hands-on art-making space that serves communities of all incomes and backgrounds across Greater Cincinnati.
$1,104,291 spent$24,773 earned by the program35% of program spendingThe Contemporary Arts Center's (CAC) Visitor Experience program ensures an accessible, welcoming, and engaging first point of contact for all guests. Through front desk admissions, and visitor assistance, the team provides highquality customer service that enhances each guest's interaction with the CAC's exhibitions and programs. Visitor Experience staff help connect individuals with contemporary art by facilitating smooth entry, answering questions, and supporting an inclusive and visitorcentered environment.
$291,750 spent$32,468 earned by the program9% of program spendingThe CAC's gift shop offers artinspired merchandise and publications that extend the visitor experience and promote engagement with contemporary art. In addition, the CAC provides versatile event and venue rental options that serve the community and generate missionsupporting revenue.
$216,151 spent$32,441 earned by the program7% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $3,126,933.
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 2023 to 2024, from $34M to $25M (−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: 2017 3% · 2018 2% · 2019 2% · 2020 10% · 2021 14% · 2022 4% · 2023 27% · 2024 4%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
88% of The Contemporary Arts Center’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (63% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 8 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
Christina Vassallo
Executive Director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2023 and FY2024 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 13 funders to 23 funders, grant income rose $416k → $909k.
9 of 74 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 10% 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: $3.4M from 3 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Cincinnati Institute of Fine Arts). These are real filings, and they are not money The Contemporary Arts Center raised.
From the IRS filings of The Contemporary Arts Center’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 74 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
The Contemporary Arts Center has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 19% of grant income, and it takes 5 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 5 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 36% · 2018 27% · 2019 27% · 2020 28% · 2021 25% · 2022 36% · 2023 22% — 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
40% of The Contemporary Arts Center'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
62% of The Contemporary Arts Center's grant income comes from Ohio funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $711k arriving through sponsors registered in 7 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
The Contemporary Arts Center's funding base is broadening — from 13 funders to 23 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 5,136 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Government funding The Contemporary Arts Center receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $636k on record.
- Institute of Museum and Library Services$361k
- National Endowment for the Arts$275k
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 The Contemporary Arts Center
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 Ohio
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
65% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
83%
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 The Contemporary Arts Center: 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 The Contemporary Arts Center?
- The Contemporary Arts Center (Ohio) receives grants from 74 organizations whose IRS filings report $7,274,381 to it, the largest being JOHN J & MARY R SCHIFF FOUNDATION ($1,350,000). 42 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does The Contemporary Arts Center have?
- IRS filings report 74 organizations giving $7,274,381 in grants to The Contemporary Arts Center, 42 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of The Contemporary Arts Center?
- JOHN J & MARY R SCHIFF FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $1,350,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like The Contemporary Arts Center find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Ohio. 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 Contemporary Arts Center →
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 74 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