Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Jul 1981.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
92 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
Something off? Claim to add context
Who runs it and what they're paid
18 people listed on the 990; $103K paid to officers and key staff.
Coleen West’s $155K as Executive Director is at the 68th percentile of top reported officer pay among 3924 $1–10M arts & culture nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.
Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 1 named individual · Part VII
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coleen West | $154,588 | $150,000 | $132,500 | $119,000 | $100,154 | $103,385 |
Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.
See Howard County Arts Council executive salaries →Questions the 990 asks
The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.
- Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
- Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes
Programs and updates
Fosters arts, artists, and organizations, making them accessible to all.
Questions for Howard County Arts Council
Your first name shows with your question. Howard County Arts Council answers here, for everyone.
Grant Awards
To advance and support the arts, the council administers the following six grant programs: community arts development, artists-in-education, baltimore city arts and cultural organizations, organizational development, outreach howard and the jim rouse theatre subsidy program.
Art Center
To encourage an active and supportive relationship between artists and the public, the council manages a multi-purpose arts center, which provides affordable studio and meeting space to artists, a black box theatre and dance studio for performances and rehearsals, classrooms for arts education, and two exhibit spaces for the display of…
Community Services
To foster and promote the arts, the council maintains a website that promotes upcoming programs and performances, develops partnerships to advance the arts, publishes a quarterly newsletter, offers awards and scholarships, and provides various resources, technical assistance, advice and guidance on artistic development and art education.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2020 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | FY20 | FY19 | FY18 | FY17 | FY16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| End of yearLn 1g | $138K | $131K | $123K | $115K | $104K |
| Given inLn 1b | $550 | $50 |
| Line | Start FY20 | End FY20 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $434K | $541K |
| InvestmentsLn 11–13 | $552K | $615K |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $34K | $26K |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $1.1M | $1.2M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $99K | $97K |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $956K | $1.1M |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1 | $667K | $667K | ||
| Grants to domestic individualsLn 2 | $15K | $15K | ||
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $130K | $107K | $7K | $17K |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $257K | $211K | $13K | $33K |
| Pension plan contributionsLn 8 | $1K | $1K | $72 | $187 |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $18K | $14K | $986 | $2K |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $27K | $22K | $1K | $4K |
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $24K | $24K | ||
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $100K | $100K | $136 | |
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $1K | $1K | $23 | $65 |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $54K | $47K | $2K | $5K |
| Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19 | $4K | $3K | $195 | $379 |
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $14K | $11K | $695 | $2K |
| InsuranceLn 23 | $8K | $6K | $389 | $1K |
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $42K | $41K | $370 | $960 |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $1.4M | $1.2M | $49K | $65K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 LatestFiled with the IRS Jan 28, 2026 | $3.6M | $1.9M | $1.7M | $3.7M | 990 PDF |
| FY2024Filed with the IRS Jan 27, 2025 | $1.9M | $1.8M | $152K | $2.0M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023Filed with the IRS Mar 18, 2024 | $2.3M | $1.7M | $563K | $1.8M | 990 PDF |
| FY2022Filed with the IRS Jan 31, 2023 | $1.7M | $1.6M | $33K | $1.2M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021Filed with the IRS Jan 18, 2022 | $1.4M | $1.4M | $65K | $1.2M | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 ViewingFiled with the IRS Jan 12, 2021 | $1.5M | $1.4M | $133K | $1.1M | 990 PDF |
Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2020 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $1,495,882 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 14 of 14 board members independent, no flags
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $1,495,882 across 9 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $1,362,805 across 15 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $1,202,935 assets, 15 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $1,105,803 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2020 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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