As 220
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
We the people of Rhode Island associate ourselves for the purpose of providing a local forum and home for the arts through the maintenance of residential and work studios galleries performance and educational spaces. Exhibitions and performances in the forum will be unjuried uncensored and open to the general public. Our facilities and services are made available to all artists who need a place to exhibit perform or create their original artwork especially those who cannot obtain space to exhibit or perform from traditional sources because of financial or other limitations. AS220 envisions a just world where all people can realize their full creative potential.
- Income
- $2.5 million
- Spending
- $3.3 million
- Spent on programs
- 77%
- Reserves
- 23.2 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- fees for its services, 69%
- Employees
- 81
- Volunteers
- 70
- Highest pay
- $89,922, co-executive director
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Good: 76 out of 100. Higher than 57% of charities in its peer group (arts and culture, $1m to $10m).
Reserves
35 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 23.2 months of spending.
Debt
16 of 20It owes 28% of what it owns.
Living within its means
0 of 15Spending exceeded income by 32% of income.
Income trend
10 of 15Income fell 4% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1577% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 16 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Strong: 100 out of 100. Higher than 65% of charities in its peer group (arts and culture, $1m to $10m).
Independent board
25 of 2510 of 10 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
8 of 8Has a written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
7 of 7Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
10 of 10Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.
Pay set independently
5 of 5Sets its chief executive's pay through independent review and comparison.
Independent check of accounts
15 of 15Its accounts were audited by an independent accountant.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (5)
- $837,031 spent. AS220 YOUTH works with young people aged 14-21 through 5 crews: fashion media arts music dance and visuals. AS220 Youth formally partners with several downtown high schools that otherwise do not have arts programming as well as the Rhode Island Training School the states juvenile detention center where we have been working for nearly 30 years. This exposure to the arts taps into often-overlooked creative potential offering a powerful learning experience for young people. In FY2025 AS220 Youth ran 144 ongoing classes and served 347 young people including 94 Youth apprentices. AS220 Youth also premiered a full studio show again: FUTUREWORLDS 9 in May 2025.
- $573,765 spent. LIVE ARTS & GALLERIES: We provide an unjuried uncensored all ages forum for the arts; every artist residing in Rhode Island has the opportunity to exhibit or perform their original work in our venues. AS220 presents an extraordinary range of activities and our unjuried and uncensored booking policy ensures that a limitless variety appears on our stages and on our walls. Live Arts venues include the Main Stage the Black Box and Psychic Readings and these venues host live music theater dance performance art poetry slams film screenings late night programming fashion shows workshops festivals and more. In fiscal year 2025 Live Arts presented over 400 performances events and workshops with over 4,200 artists and public attendance of over 19,000. The AS220 Galleries include the Main Gallery the Project Space the Reading Room the Resident Gallery and the Aborn Gallery and feature visual artists working in various mediums on a monthly rotating schedule. In fiscal year 2025 the galleries curated exhibitions featuring 95 visual artists including 37 first-time exhibitors with attendance of over 5,100. In the Aborn Gallery we also continued to intentionally curate timely exhibitions. This model is now being used to support artists and curators who otherwise would not have an opportunity to show work with a focus on projects that: engage with critical social issues relevant to and urgent in our community; present projects that bring new voices to the gallery and AS220 community; uplift artists at critical junctions in their career; and might be outside the traditional parameters of a gallery exhibition and or push against boundaries of the mainstream.
- $412,242 spent. LIVE WORK: AS220 owns and manages three mixed-use buildings in downtown Providence Rhode Island totaling approximately 100,000 sq. ft. We offer affordable housing and studio space for over 60 artists on the upper floors of each of our three downtown buildings including 47 live work studios and several work-only studios. Each of our buildings includes a mix of affordable residences artist studios and public AS220 programming. We also provide offices space for 4 other non-profit organizations and have 6 commercial tenants all of which are local one-of-a-kind businesses. Permanent affordable artist housing has been key to transforming downtown providence into a vibrant place to live and work over the past 30 years. Our tenants are a core foundation of the AS220 community and have access to AS220 resources. They also help support the community through volunteer work.
- $197,374 spent. AS220 COMMUNITY STUDIOS and AS220 DANCE are AS220s formal adult education programs. Community Studios is a cross-disciplinary arts education space and community studio comprising a Media Arts Lab Fabrication Lab and Woodshop Printshop Visuals & Fashion Studio and Community Darkroom. In addition to providing members access to professional tools and equipment for artistic production Community Studios has offered educational workshops from beginner to advanced levels since 2011. By providing affordable access to studio space tools of the trade and varied training opportunities Community Studios has fostered a dynamic environment for learning and making as well as small business development and production. In FY2025 219 regular members participated at Community Studios and 1,220 students attended 95 workshops and events. AS220 Dance hosts weekly classes in many dance and movement forms as well as rehearsal space for dancers. In FY2025 16 regular dance instructors held 520 class sessions for 2,489 students.
- $542,634 spent. OTHER PROGRAMS: Other programs includes organization-wide programming such as AS220s participation in the Citys PVD Fest as well as supporting and incubating small and fledgling arts groups and other aligned startup organizations as they grow into their own nonprofits through fiscal and administrative support. In FY2025 it also included the second year of our Creative Leadership Fellows project. The 16 Fellows 11 of whom completed the program were supported by programs across AS220 in a yearlong program through which they learned about event curation being a teaching artist arts nonprofit management civic engagement and creative leadership.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated November 6, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending June 2025.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since October 1988.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated November 4, 2026.
Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.