Arts Quincy

What Arts Quincy does

Arts Quincy, legally known as the Quincy Society of Fine Arts, is a nonprofit community arts council incorporated in 1948 in Quincy, Illinois, and recognized as America's First Arts Council. The organization provides marketing, administrative, and grantmaking services to 55+ partner arts organizations in Adams County, Illinois, while also serving as a public information hub for local arts patrons. Its core products include a 40-page bi-monthly full-color Arts Quincy Magazine distributed to 50+ locations, a Community Arts Calendar, the semi-monthly Arts Blast email newsletter, TV/radio segments, and regranting programs including Arts Dollars (25 grants totaling $11,625 in the prior year) and Instant Arts Classroom Funds. Public art initiatives include the Celebration of Education Sculpture Series, executed in partnership with The Moorman Foundation since 2018.

The organization operates with 3 staff members — Executive Director Laura Sievert-Hesseltine, Office and Programs Manager Jill Sager, and Marketing Director Jaycie Womack Spake — governed by an 11-member Board of Directors. Revenue is generated through individual memberships ($25/year or $5/month), business memberships ($100/year), magazine advertising, donations, and grants from the Illinois Arts Council, National Endowment for the Arts, ArtWorks, The Moorman Foundation, The Tracy Family Foundation, and the Marion Gardner Jackson Trust. Distribution combines physical magazine pickup locations, mailed subscriptions, and a free digital magazine available online.

Founded by George M. Irwin, who also founded the Quincy Symphony Orchestra, the Illinois Arts Council, and Americans for the Arts, the organization formally rebranded to Arts Quincy in 2015 while retaining its original legal name. Its stated vision extends beyond Adams County to the Tri-State Region (Illinois, Iowa, Missouri), though current operations remain focused on Adams County. The underlying technology stack is a standard WordPress CMS supporting the website, digital magazine, and community calendar, with no disclosed AI/ML capabilities or proprietary platform infrastructure.

Name

Arts Quincy

Legal name

Quincy Society of Fine Arts

Website

https://artsquincy.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1948

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Arts Quincy is a nonprofit community arts council in Quincy, Illinois, providing marketing, administrative, and grantmaking services to 55+ partner arts organizations in Adams County while publishing a bi-monthly magazine and operating a community arts calendar for local patrons.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Arts Council Services

NAICS

Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation (71), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (7121)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721), Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Public Art, Arts Councils & Grantmaking Programs (BPAGAHAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Arts & Culture Service/Support Organizations (Networks, Advocacy, Capacity Building) (BPAGAHAL), Arts Education & Community Arts Programs (BPAGAHAC)

Keywords

• Community arts council
• Arts marketing services
• Arts grant programs
• Community magazine publishing
• Public art initiatives

Headquarters

HQ city

Quincy

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Memberships: Individual basic membership starting at $25/year or $5/month, provides subscription to Arts Quincy Magazine, recognition twice a year, invitation to annual meeting, and holiday gift
2. Business Memberships: Business basic membership starting at $100/year, helps offset magazine costs and makes publication available to all
3. Magazine Advertising: Revenue from advertisers supporting production and distribution costs of the magazine. Rate sheet available, partner organizations entitled to discounted rates
4. Foundation and Government Grants: Support from Illinois Arts Council, National Endowment for the Arts, ArtWorks, The Moorman Foundation, The Tracy Family Foundation, Marion Gardner Jackson Trust
5. Donations: Donations accepted via office contact or online form to support arts programs

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Arts Quincy is a nonprofit community arts council that provides marketing, administrative, and grant support services to 55+ partner arts organizations in Adams County, Illinois. It publishes a 40-page bi-monthly Arts Quincy Magazine, maintains a Community Arts Calendar and Arts Blast email newsletter, and operates the Arts Dollars regranting program and Instant Arts Classroom Funds to fund local arts projects and education.

Product overview

Arts Quincy is a nonprofit organization operating as America's First Arts Council. Its core offerings include the bi-monthly Arts Quincy Magazine (40-page full-color publication serving as marketing platform for 55+ partner organizations), the Community Arts Calendar, Arts Blast Email newsletter, and various grant programs including Arts Dollars and Instant Arts Classroom Funds. The organization also manages public art initiatives like the Celebration of Education Sculpture Series, publishes the George M. Irwin Lifetime Achievement Award, and provides partner organization services including marketing support, administrative services, and educational workshops. Supporting resources include Club Meetings Listings, Local Museums Directory, and the Community Arts Resource Guide.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Arts Quincy Magazine A 40-page, full color, bi-monthly publication featuring articles, events, profiles, and other content from all areas of the arts and humanities in Adams County. The magazine serves as a marketing platform for 55+ partner arts organizations, distributed to 50+ pickup locations in Quincy and available free online; printed subscriptions are available via $25/year individual memberships.
• Community Arts Calendar An online events calendar featuring live music, entertainment, workshops, creative experiences, annual festivals, and exhibit openings throughout Quincy, Illinois, with filtering capabilities for finding arts events by type. Free for community use.
• Arts Blast Email Newsletter A semi-monthly email newsletter providing updates and reminders about arts events, programs, and news from Arts Quincy and its 55+ partner organizations. Free subscription via website sign-up.
• Arts Dollars Grant Program A regranting program that provides grants to arts organizations for community projects; provided 25 grants totaling $11,625 to fund projects like Blues in the District and Midsummer Arts Faire. Available to partner arts organizations in Adams County.
• Instant Arts Classroom Funds A grant program providing funding to classroom teachers for arts-related projects and educational initiatives, available through Arts Quincy membership support.
• Partner Organization Marketing and Administrative Services Marketing and arts management services provided to 55 partner nonprofit arts organizations including promotional support through commercials, TV/radio segments, email marketing, magazine features, and administrative services such as bulk mailing permit access, media lists, social media and board-building workshops, press release consultation, QuickBooks management, and poster design.
• Individual Membership Annual membership for individual arts patrons starting at $25/year or $5/month, providing a year-long subscription to the Arts Quincy Magazine, recognition twice a year, invitation to the annual meeting, and a holiday gift. Supports the Arts Dollars and Instant Arts grant programs.
• Business Membership Annual membership for local businesses starting at $100/year, helping offset magazine costs and making the publication available to all community members. Includes recognition benefits.
• Magazine Advertising Advertising space in the 40-page bi-monthly Arts Quincy Magazine, distributed to 50+ pickup locations in Quincy. Partner organizations are entitled to highly discounted advertising rates. Rate sheet available for download.

Quantifiable outcome

• Provided 25 grants totaling $11,625 through Arts Dollars program
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 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

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Partner Organizations (55+)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNetwork of 55+ nonprofit arts organizations in Adams County receiving marketing, administrative, and grant support from Arts Quincy. Includes organizations like Quincy Symphony Orchestra, Quincy Community Theatre, Quincy Art Center, Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum, and many more.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Americans for the Arts: National arts advocacy and service organization founded by Arts Quincy's own founder, George M. Irwin. Directly comparable as a nonprofit arts-support infrastructure organization, though operating at national scope rather than a single county.
• Massachusetts Cultural Council: State-level cultural funding and support agency providing grants, advocacy, and cultural programming across Massachusetts. Comparable as an arts regranting and support infrastructure organization, though operating at state scale.
• Arts Midwest: Regional arts organization serving six Midwestern states with grantmaking, programs, and convenings. Comparable as a multi-state arts support and regranting organization serving the broader region where Arts Quincy operates.
• Illinois Arts Council: State arts agency that Arts Quincy was instrumental in founding in 1965; comparable as a funder and peer arts-support infrastructure organization, though operating at state scale.
• Mid-America Arts Council: Regional arts council serving Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas with regranting and artist support. Comparable as a regional arts regranting infrastructure organization in the central US.

Direct peers

• Greater Columbus Arts Council: Regional arts council providing grants, marketing, and capacity-building support to arts organizations in central Ohio. Direct functional peer as a community arts regranting and service organization.
• ArtsWave: Greater Cincinnati arts council and community campaign that pools and regrants donor funds to regional arts organizations. Closely comparable to Arts Quincy's hub-and-regranting model serving 55+ partner organizations.
• Arts Council of Indianapolis: Indianapolis-based arts council providing services, advocacy, and grantmaking for member arts organizations. Comparable in operating model as a service-oriented regional arts council supporting a network of partners.
• Greater Houston Arts Alliance: Houston-area arts service and advocacy organization providing marketing, capacity-building, and unified fundraising for arts nonprofits. Comparable in hub-and-spoke service model for regional arts organizations.

Regional players

• Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis: St. Louis-area arts grantmaking and service organization serving 16 counties. Comparable as a regional regranting body supporting arts nonprofits, operating in a neighboring region to Arts Quincy's Tri-State vision.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/PLPcUABDES0BERo5_GhDTrTh58NILeQorS
• Facebookfacebook.com/ArtsQuincy.QSFA
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/quincy-society-of-fine-arts

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 Arts Quincy