International Academy of Fine Art
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
Points to look into
- It reported loans to or from officers, directors or other insiders.
These come from the organization's own tax return. There may be a good explanation; ask the charity.
What it says it does
THE FLORENCE ACADAMY OF ART WAS FOUNED IN 1991 BY DANIEL GRAVES (SEE SCHEDULE O FOR DETAILS).
- Income
- $4.8 million
- Spending
- $3.9 million
- Spent on programs
- 79%
- Reserves
- -8.8 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- fees for its services, 87%
- Employees
- 0
- Highest pay
- $75,652, 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
Fair: 50 out of 100. Higher than 13% of charities in its peer group (international, $1m to $10m).
Reserves
0 of 35Spendable reserves are negative: it owes or has committed more than it holds.
Debt
5 of 20It owes 64% of what it owns.
Living within its means
15 of 15Income exceeded spending by 18% of income.
Income trend
15 of 15Income rose 9% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1579% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 0 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
Good: 75 out of 100. Higher than 27% of charities in its peer group (international, $1m to $10m).
Independent board
25 of 2525 of 27 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
0 of 8Reports no written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
0 of 7Reports no 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
0 of 10Reports at least one of: diversion of assets, excess benefits, 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 (1)
- $3.1 million spent. DANIEL GRAVES BEGAN THE ACADEMY IN 1991 IN A SMALL STUDIO IN THE GARDENS OF A LOCAL FLORENTINE PALACE. (SEE SCHEDULE O FOR additional information) The Florence Academy of Art was founded in 1991 by American painter, Daniel Graves. First housed in a small studio in the gardens of a local Florentine palace, students trained in the methods of the Old Masters. Graves set out to demystify the training of an artist and break down the complex task of learning to draw, paint, and sculpt from life into gradual steps, and Florence - with its rich history, artistic treasures, and natural beauty - was the ideal place to start a school to keep the tradition of great painting and sculpture alive. Soon, the handful of students who had come to study grew to exceed the space available. In 1994, the academy moved to a 4500 square-foot studio, and there began its journey to become a bonafide school. Over the years, it grew from a dozen students to locations in three countries (Florence, Italy, Jersey City, NJ, and Mlndal, Sweden) offering classical instruction in drawing, painting, and sculpture to 150 full time students. By 2013, The Florence Academy of Art became accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design, including a Master of Arts in Studio Art and an MFA in Painting. The academy realized a long-term goal in 2015 to purchase a permanent home in Florence. Renovation of the 19th century customs house was completed in October 2016 in time to inaugurate the 2016-2017 academic year. The 35,000 square foot campus provides 100 students enrolled in drawing, painting, and sculpture over 30 northerly lit studios, a library, gallery, bookshop, cafe and two apartments for visiting artists. Part of the academy's mission is to form the next generation of teachers. All the academy's instructors are graduates of its three-year program and therefore trained in the philosophy, methodology and language of instruction of The Florence Academy of Art. They pass on a consistent and clearly delineated body of knowledge and guarantee a continuum of the academy's philosophy and artistic language. Most instructors also work on site in private studios provided by the school; students therefore benefit not only from daily direct instruction and critique, but also from watching the professional artist at work. Students study on a full-time basis, 36 hours per week, from October through June; preference is given to applicants who intend to stay the full three years; a fourth year of specialization is the norm. Applications for academic year study exceed available spaces 3 to 1. Equally successful is the continuing education programming with enrollment in most courses reaching 100%. Financial aid in the form of partial or full tuition scholarships is awarded to 30% of students annually and is subsidized by regular tuition income (90%), and Board contributions or private donations (10%). The education students receive at The Florence Academy of Art is foundational. Like in other classical-art disciplines, students begin with simple exercises, and progress through the curriculum only after each requisite skill is acquired, from learning to draw accurately to learning to use precise color values in oil or -for sculpture students - learning to use correct structure in clay. When students walk in the door of the Florence Academy, they are assigned a north light studio space and settle into a rhythm of working that will remain constant throughout their years of study. They spend half the day working from the figure, and half of the day in their studios, working on specific exercises. They attend weekly lectures in Anatomy, corch Sculpture and Art History. They are taught the sight-size method of measurement in the early stages of the curriculum, and never work from photographs, but only from life. Working in charcoal, drawing students develop accuracy, and, in preparation to become a painter, a sophisticated understanding of gradations of value. The students' cast drawings look like the actual casts, and their figure drawings have the weight and balance of a living person. Painting students start en grisaille - that is, with painting in gray to become familiar with using paint to study values without the added complexity of color. Students use with a traditional limited palette of three colors, not including white - yellow ocher, English red, and black, and later add naples yellow, vermilion, cobalt blue. Advanced students begin considering composition (e.g., to place emphasis on the gesture of the figure and an indication of the mood and personality of the model), while teachers guide them in developing their voice. The kinds of problems they begin to solve as advanced painters and sculptors are the ones they will face as emerging artists: what do I want to paint or sculpt? Why? What emotion do I want to convey and how? What areas of technical competence must I strengthen to not be held back in the articulation of my vision? Students will often hear the following advice from Daniel Graves, the philosophy by which he lives his own art: "We must have the courage to ask ourselves what we really care about, because if we do not know we cannot express it. We must develop our capacity for deep feeling, for what we know with our minds is only part of what we have to give to our art ---- we also have our hearts to give.... we must grow wise in our hearts, in tandem with honing our craft, to express ourselves in a way that will both touch and be meaningful to others. To seek beauty and meaning in our lives is to bring it into our art.". Graduates go on to work skillfully in a wide variety of media, styles, and professions, from oil and bronze to mixed media and digital art; from classical representation to imaginative and abstracted figuration; and from professional portraiture to illustration and animation. Of 550 graduates to date, 78% are working artists, and 37% are currently teaching the methodology they learned at th
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 August 2000.
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.