atac Is A Place for Learning, Leadership, and Lifting Up the Arts!
“You’ll often hear us call atac “your” local art center, and that’s not hyperbole. atac quite literally belongs to those kids, to our visiting artists and technicians, and to you.”
When kids in the neighborhood are introduced to atac. I get a series of questions:
“What is this place?”
“How much do you get paid?”
“Who owns this place?”
The first two are pretty straightforward: atac is a community-focused art center, and my salary, which can be found in our financial statements and 990s, is easy to share. “Who owns this place?” is just as simple but a little harder to explain because, well, no one owns atac.
Once a nonprofit is created, it’s a separate legal entity from its founders, incorporators, directors, officers, and employees. A nonprofit is created to serve a common good by emphasizing community needs over individual profit. They’re afforded a special tax status in exchange for providing a community need, and all profits* have to go back into accomplishing the mission and the community it was created to serve. Nonprofit organizations are accountable to the IRS, the State, and most importantly, the general public.
You’ll often hear us call atac “your” local art center, and that’s not hyperbole. atac quite literally belongs to those kids, to our visiting artists and technicians, and to you. What’s more, there are tangible ways you can help steward our mission and our responsibility to serve a common good. atac is governed by a board of directors who make sure we are fulfilling our legal and financial obligations; they hire and supervise the executive director, who is responsible for managing atac’s programs and operations, and they encourage the organization's success through volunteering at events, helping us achieve our financial goals, and being ambassadors for the great work we’re doing!
If this sounds interesting, a position on the board of directors at atac might be a good fit for you! We’re looking for folks from our community who represent all backgrounds, experiences, and talents but have at least one thing in common: the time and passion to devote to keeping the arts accessible to our whole community.
If you’re interested in learning more about this community leadership position, take a look at our application form. Someone from the board or I will get back to you to answer any questions you may have. Feel free to email Jannelle@atac160.org or board@atac160.org with questions!
*A common misconception is that nonprofits don’t (or can’t) make a profit. The difference between nonprofit and for-profit corporations is nonprofits can’t give profits to any private individual.
Tags: