Society of the Four Arts
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
To enrich, inspire and engage the Palm Beach County community, enhancing the quality of our lives through educational and cultural programs in art, music, drama, literature, historical and current affairs.
- Income
- $118.4 million
- Spending
- $15.2 million
- Spent on programs
- 61%
- Reserves
- 53.6 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- donations and private grants, 93%
- Employees
- 57
- Volunteers
- 0
- Highest pay
- $634,579, president & ceo
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
Strong: 93 out of 100. Higher than 64% of charities in its peer group (arts and culture, over $100m).
Reserves
35 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 53.6 months of spending.
Debt
20 of 20It owes 1% of what it owns.
Living within its means
15 of 15Income exceeded spending by 87% of income.
Income trend
15 of 15Income rose 167% on the year before.
Spending floor
8 of 1561% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 2 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 30% of charities in its peer group (arts and culture, over $100m).
Independent board
25 of 25166 of 166 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 (4)
- $5.6 million spent. Artistic programming consists of art exhibitions, concerts, films, HD screenings from cultural partners, and lectures. Each season The Society of the Four Arts presents a full season of notable programs in music, drama, literature, and the visual arts. Concerts include programs by the world's leading musicians in diverse performances of classical, jazz, bluegrass, and more. Recent art exhibitions included Past Forward: Native American Art from Gilcrease Museum and Rory McEwen: A New Perspective on Nature. Each run included a lecture on the exhibition. The Four Arts curates a Friday Film Series and hosts screenings from the Metropolitan Opera in New York, National Theatre Live in London, and an Exhibition on Screen series. Attendance 21,534 over 83 programs. Scenes of New York City: The Ellie and Sarah Hirschfeld Collection, Flora Imaginaria: The Flower in Contemporary Photography, and Guild Hall: An Adventure in the Arts. Art Films and memorable Hollywood movies are shown on Friday afternoon and evenings; each son's full schedule of live HD broadcasts is offered on Saturdays & Sundays. Many exhibitions and Concerts are accompanied by lectures and Gallery talks, and the Society's multi-acre Gardens Botanical display gardens and a two-acre Sculpture Garden are open to the public year-round, free of charge. Attendance 53,420 while open for 337 days.
- $479,289 spent. Because the Town of Palm Beach has no public libraries, the Society's two libraries - the King Library for adults and a separate, superbly equipped Children's Library, serve, in effect, as the town's "official" libraries. Both are open to the public at no charge (adults pay a small fee for borrowing privileges); both present a full season's schedule of events: story hours for children, plus celebrations of special events like National Fire Prevention week when Palm Beach's fire trucks and firefighters visit the children's library, author visits, book signings, poetry readings, lectures, book discussions, and other events for adults. Attendance 75,530 including 313 events.
- $1.7 million spent. Education (Campus on the Lake) programming consists of field trips, lectures, master classes, seminars, and workshops dedicated to the living arts. These programs and events are presented in the new Four Arts Dixon Education Building. The presentations range widely in subject matter: ongoing classes on classical music, opera, literature, art, watercolor painting, sculpture, cooking, and flower arranging; one-time lectures on a wide variety of subjects. Designed to attract a broad audience, the Campus on the Lake has won wide praise for the variety and depth of its programs. Attendance 10,163 over 124 programs.
- $1.4 million spent. The Four Arts gardens were founded in the 1930's, when many visitors and new residents were unfamiliar with the subtropical flora of south Florida. The gardens were designed to demonstrate the varieties of horticulture possible in the region. The horticultural display gardens feature nine separate sections ranging from a Chinese-style walled garden to a formal colonial garden to a Spanish garden against a mediterranean-revival facade and showcasing an antique Spanish well. The gardens are maintained by the Garden Club of Palm Beach.Immediately adjacent, the two-acre Philip Hulitar sculpture garden, which displays an encyclopedic collection of American and international sculpture and functions as a public park for Palm Beach, is a further showcase for subtropical horticulture. The gardens are open to the public year-round, free of charge. Attendance 56,450 while open for 342 days..
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 May 1952.
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.