ArtsNow

What ArtsNow does

ArtsNow is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit backbone arts and culture agency for Summit County, Ohio, founded in 2015 (operating publicly from 2014 firmographic data and a 2015 launch including SummitLive365). The organization stewards the Akron/Summit Cultural Plan, a community-developed strategic framework with ten priorities, and operates as the formal convener and grant administrator for the regional creative ecosystem. Its core products are three grant programs — ArtsForward (project grants up to $25,000 for nonprofits), the Creative Investment Program (individual artist grants up to $2,500), and Placemaking Grants (with the Summit County Land Bank, funded by the NEA) — alongside event series (Quarterly Creative Summits, State of the Arts), the SummitLive365 community event calendar, and the Arts & Culture Inclusion Council focused on DEIA. Its reported technology stack is intentionally minimal: the MonkeyPod all-in-one nonprofit platform underpins donor management, accounting, CRM, email, and online giving; Foundant/GrantInterface handles grant applications; Eventbrite supports event registration; Mailchimp powers newsletters; and Google Analytics tracks web traffic. There is no proprietary software product or disclosed data platform.

ArtsNow's business model is philanthropic, not commercial. Revenue consists of grants and contributions from a concentrated base of regional and national funders — Akron Community Foundation, GAR Foundation, Knight Foundation, Ohio Arts Council, the County of Summit, Peg's Foundation, Bridgestone, PNC, Maynard Family Foundation, Synthomer Foundation, the Ian Patrick Schwarber Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts — and from individual donations processed through its website. It does not charge for its core services; instead, it redistributes roughly $1.4 million cumulative via ArtsForward to 135 projects since 2023 and operates complementary programs such as Museums for All at $1-$3 EBT-priced admissions for partner institutions. Its customer base spans four segments: individual artists and creatives, arts and culture nonprofit organizations, Summit County residents, and arts educators. The organization runs with 1-10 employees led by Executive Director Nicole Mullet, with named CMO Kat Allen Martucci and a contracted bookkeeper; it is governed by a community-representative board refreshed in July 2025.

Name

ArtsNow

Legal name

ArtsNow

Website

https://artsnow.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

ArtsNow is a Summit County, Ohio 501(c)(3) nonprofit backbone arts and culture agency founded in 2015. It administers ArtsForward, Creative Investment, and Placemaking grants; runs Quarterly Creative Summits; stewards the Akron/Summit Cultural Plan; and serves 300+ arts organizations, individual artists, and residents countywide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Arts and Culture Nonprofit Services

NAICS

Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation (71), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Arts & Culture Service/Support Organizations (Networks, Advocacy, Capacity Building) (BPAGAHAL)

akta.pro secondary industry

Arts, Culture & Humanities Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAJ)

Keywords

• Arts grant programs
• Cultural agency services
• Community arts funding
• Artist professional development
• Creative placemaking grants

Headquarters

HQ city

Akron

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Philanthropic Grants and Donations: ArtsNow operates as a nonprofit organization funded through philanthropic partnerships with local foundations, public agencies, and individual donors. The organization administers grant programs including ArtsForward and Creative Investment Program, which are funded through collective investment of local philanthropy, public partners, and individual donors countywide. Revenue is derived from grant funding rather than commercial product sales.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

ArtsNow is the backbone arts and culture agency for Summit County, Ohio. It administers collective grant programs (ArtsForward, Creative Investment Program, Placemaking Grants) that distribute philanthropic funding to nonprofit arts organizations and individual artists, operates the SummitLive365 community arts event calendar, runs access and equity programs such as Museums for All and the Arts & Culture Inclusion Council, and convenes the sector through events including the State of the Arts annual gathering and Quarterly Creative Summits.

Product overview

ArtsNow operates as a backbone arts and culture agency for Summit County, Ohio, offering a portfolio of grant programs and platforms rather than a unified software product. The core offerings include three main grant programs: ArtsForward (project grants up to $25,000 for nonprofits, entering final year in 2026), Creative Investment Program (individual artist grants up to $2,500 for professional development), and Placemaking Grants (creative placemaking projects with Summit County Land Bank partnership). Supporting these grants are digital platforms including SummitLive365 (arts event calendar and artist directory) and a Community Art Exhibition Directory. Additional programs include the Arts & Culture Inclusion Council (DEIA initiative), Museums for All (accessibility program), and the annual State of the Arts event. The organization utilizes the MonkeyPod nonprofit management platform for internal operations and grant interface technology for application processing.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ArtsForward: A grant program facilitated by ArtsNow to provide resources supporting The Cultural Plan's ten key priorities through project grants for artists and arts organizations.
• Creative Investment Program (CIP)
• SummitLive365

Products and services

• ArtsForward A flagship project-based grant program that provides up to $25,000 to Summit County nonprofit organizations for creative, place-based work aligned with the ten priorities of the Akron/Summit Cultural Plan. Open to nonprofits in Summit County and entering its final year of project grants in 2026.
• Creative Investment Program (CIP) A grant program providing up to $2,500 to individual Summit County artists and creatives for professional development, including training, courses, workshops, certifications, and leadership programs. Supported by the Ian Patrick Schwarber Foundation.
• Placemaking Grants Project grants supporting creative placemaking projects that use arts and culture to strengthen neighborhoods and activate public spaces in Summit County, offered in partnership with the Summit County Land Bank.
• SummitLive365 A free online arts and culture event calendar and artist directory for Summit County, serving as a portal for artists, performers, venues, and organizations to list events and showcase their work.
• Museums for All

Quantifiable outcome

• Since 2023, ArtsForward has awarded more than $1.4 million to 135 projects advancing the Cultural Plan.
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• Summit County Land BankcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in Creative Placemaking Grants program supporting projects that activate public spaces and strengthen neighborhoods through arts and culture. Co-hosts annual Creative Placemaking Conference.
• Akron/Summit Convention and Visitors BureausupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional tourism and visitors bureau partnering with ArtsNow to promote arts and culture attractions.
• The University of Akron EXL CentersupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity partnership supporting ArtsNow programs and connecting students with arts opportunities.
• State and Federal CommunicationssupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerCorporate partner hosting art installations by Summit County artists at their downtown Akron headquarters. Partnership with ArtsNow celebrating local artists.
• Curated StorefrontsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerArtsForward grant recipient implementing the Visiting Artist Program at Akron Public Schools' I PROMISE School, bringing professional artists into classrooms.
• State and Federal CommunicationssupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerCorporate partner supporting ArtsNow's work and hosting local artist installations.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Houston Arts Alliance: Houston's local arts agency that administers municipal cultural funds, manages public art, and convenes the city's creative sector—a comparable backbone nonprofit with municipal-funding ties.
• Arts Council of Indianapolis: Marion County's local arts agency providing grantmaking, advocacy, and capacity-building services to Indianapolis arts organizations—structurally similar to ArtsNow as a county-level backbone funder and convenor.
• Assembly for the Arts: Cleveland-based arts advocacy and convening organization that mobilizes residents, artists, and funders to support the cultural sector—closely mirroring ArtsNow's advocacy and sector-convening backbone functions within the same Ohio ecosystem.
• Silicon Valley Creates: San Jose/Silicon Valley arts advocacy, grantmaking, and research backbone organization serving the regional creative sector—comparable in mission (sector convening + advocacy + data) though operating in a much larger market.
• Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance: Regional arts service and advocacy organization convening 400+ Greater Philadelphia cultural institutions and producing sector-wide data—directly comparable in scope and backbone mission to ArtsNow's work in Summit County.
• Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance: Regional nonprofit supporting and connecting Baltimore-area cultural organizations through research, advocacy, and grant programs—an operationally similar backbone-arts model in a mid-sized U.S. metro.
• ArtsWave: Greater Cincinnati's primary arts fundraising and grantmaking backbone organization, conducting workplace giving campaigns and regranting to arts groups—a near-equivalent operating model to ArtsNow's collective-investment grant architecture.
• Cuyahoga Arts & Culture: Cuyahoga County's public arts funder and backbone cultural agency for Greater Cleveland, Ohio—the most direct analog to ArtsNow's role in Summit County. Distributes tens of millions via cigarette-tax funding to 300+ organizations, just as ArtsNow channels philanthropy via ArtsForward.

Broad incumbents

• National Arts Marketing Project (Americans for the Arts): National nonprofit supporting local arts agencies through research, advocacy, and professional development—indirectly overlapping ArtsNow's role as a capacity-builder for arts marketers and managers across its network.

Regional players

• CreativeOhio: Statewide Ohio advocacy coalition for arts and culture funding, with whom ArtsNow staff overlap via the 2026 Advocacy Leadership Institute cohort. Operates at the state level rather than a single county, but pursues overlapping policy advocacy.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCD7ieWIN_LrGcZYXmhGEtdQ
• Facebookfacebook.com/SummitArtsNow
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/artsnow
• Instagraminstagram.com/artsnowoh/?hl=en
• Xx.com/artsnow_ohio

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ArtsNow