Fractured Atlas Productions is a New York City-based organization that fiscally sponsors artists and provides them with other business tools. Originally, the organization was a production company that produced productions for the theater; it has since shifted focus to a business service and technology organization for artists after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

The organization is financed by foundations and other donors, many of whom donate to left-of-center causes. Some of the projects that it sponsors also promote left-of-center political messages. Finally, the organization has adopted a radical framework on race and other cultural issues that guide the organization’s internal policies, which it calls “anti-oppression guidelines.” ¹

In addition to being funded by left of center organizations and foundations, it has advocated for left-of-center positions as an organization. For example, it came out and advocated for the passage of Obamacare. ²

Organization

Fractured Atlas Productions is a national organization that provides business and technological support to artists. It works with both individual artists and organizations, providing them with funding, business, and technological support in order to help them run their businesses more efficiently. ³

The organization’s business model relies on both membership dues and program fees. New programs and expanding the scope of existing programs is funded by grants from organizations and governmental agencies. In addition to using grants to fund program expansions and new programs, grants are sometimes used to fund special projects of “finite duration.” ⁴

Advocacy

In addition to providing business services and technological tools to help artists, the organization sometimes engages in political advocacy. The organization’s website has a tool to help members and the general public register to vote. ⁵

Most of the issues that Fractured Atlas works on are issues that directly impact the arts. Among the issues it advocates for intellectual property reform. It also lobbies on infrastructure-related issues such as zoning regulations and tourism campaigns that benefit artists and other creatives. ⁵

The organization also engages in broader left-wing advocacy. The organization strongly supported Obamacare. Fractured Atlas founder and then executive director Adam Huttler praised the law’s provisions, including the controversial individual mandate which required all American to buy health insurance or pay a fine. Huttler wrote: ²

Meanwhile, the individual mandate — which was considered a near certain casualty of this morning’s ruling — is the linchpin to the entire apparatus. Forcing the “young invincibles” to participate in the system will stabilize the risk pool and bring down rates for everyone. It will reduce unreimbursed emergency care, which increases costs throughout the system. Most importantly, without a mandate it is essentially impossible to require insurers to cover anyone without regard to pre-existing conditions; the result would be a “death spiral” of ever increasing premiums, leading ultimately to huge increases in the ranks of the uninsured.

Services Offered

The largest service Fractured Atlas offers is the fiscal sponsorship of artistic programs. Fractured Atlas offers artists the ability to raise money and solicit grants without the hassle of creating a 501(c)(3). In order to receive fiscal sponsorship, the applicant must be a member of Fractured Atlas and the project must be artistic in nature. ⁶

It also offers insurance for artists and organizations. The insurance program is powered by Lockton Affinity and covers most commercial liability needs. ⁷ It also advises artists on their health insurance options but there are some questions about its effectiveness in that. In 2012, then-executive director Adam Huttler claimed that his programs had only signed up 1% of its members for health insurance. ²

The organization also provides software to help artists better keep track of their office and track donors. It also helps artists find space and helps bring in international artists on visas. Fractured Atlas offers foreign artists a letter of consultation/no objection, which is required for artists to obtain a visa. This service also extends to providing referrals to immigration attorneys should they be needed. Fractured Atlas charges $200 for a letter of consultation and an additional $250 fee for an expedited service.⁸

Anti-Oppression Guidelines

Fractured Atlas operates through a series of “anti-oppression guidelines” which govern interaction between different groups within the organization. “Many individuals, including Fractured Atlas members, face practical barriers and oppressive experiences because of individual and systemic unequal power related to race, ability, age, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, and immigration status.” the organization writes on its website. ¹

Fractured Atlas also points out that it acknowledges that discrimination exists and it will work with the artistic community to “eliminate oppression.” According to chief operating officer Tim Cynova, the organization committed to becoming an “anti-racist, anti-oppressive” organization by providing race-based caucuses, awarding unlimited vacation days, creating a comprehensive cradle-to-grave family leave policy, and transitioning to a fully virtual organization. ⁹

Leadership

Theresa Hubbard is the Chief Executive Officer for Fractured Atlas as of 2023. Joining the company in 2011, Hubbard is also a member of the steering committee for the National Network of Fiscal Sponsors. ¹⁰

Alberto Mejia is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) for Fractured Atlas. ¹¹

Sponsored Programs

Fractured Atlas claims to not judge potential fiscal sponsorships based on viewpoints and the artistic qualities. But it is clear that the majority of programs that it sponsors are left of center and even far-left.

Among the documentaries that it currently sponsors is Resisterhood. The documentary is about the Women’s March and the movement in opposition to Donald Trump the film claims that it inspired. Its goal is to inspire opponents of Trump and Republicans to vote in 2020. ¹²

Another project that it sponsors is Abort Mission. Its stated mission is to end the shame and stigma that it claims “restricts access to safe and legal abortion, especially later in pregnancy.” Among the campaigns it supported was legalizing late-term abortion in New York State. ¹³

Yet another project is supports is Action Tank, which describes itself as a “creative think tank leading progressive change.” ¹⁴

The organization also supports “A Crack In Everything” which is a movie project that is about communities supposedly harmed by natural gas production. ¹⁵

Funding

According to its 2017 tax returns, Fractured Atlas had $26.6 million in revenue, with $24.9 million of it coming from contributions and grants. It spent $25 million in expenses. ¹⁶

Its largest single program was the fiscal sponsorships which accounted for $22 million in expenses. ¹⁶

The organization has drawn support from several left of center foundations and organizations. Among those are the Kresge Foundation,¹⁷ the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation,¹⁸ the Rockefeller Brothers Fund,¹⁹ the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation²⁰, the MacArthur Foundation, and the Surdna Foundation, which awarded its grant to support the implementation of its “radical imagination for racial justice.” ²¹

According to its 2021 990 tax form, the organization listed $36,358,780 in revenue, $30,450,838 in expenses, and $26,189,611 in total assets. ²²

1. “Anti-Oppression Guidelines”. 2019. Fractured Atlas. Accessed April 22. https://www.fracturedatlas.org/site/about/antioppressionguidelines.
2. Huttler, Adam. 2012. “A Victory For The Creative Economy”. Huffpost. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/health-care-artists_b_1634663.
3. “About Fractured Atlas”. 2019. Fractured Atlas. Accessed April 22. https://www.fracturedatlas.org/site/about/.
4.  “About Our Business Model”. 2019. Fractured Atlas. Accessed April 22. https://www.fracturedatlas.org/site/about/business.
5. “Cultural Policy Advocacy”. 2019. Fractured Atlas. Accessed April 22. https://www.fracturedatlas.org/site/advocacy.
6. “Fiscal Sponsorship”. 2019. Fractured Atlas. Accessed April 22. https://www.fracturedatlas.org/site/FiscalSponsorship/.
7. “Insurance For Artists And Arts Organizations”. 2019. Fractured Atlas. Accessed April 22. https://www.fracturedatlas.org/site/liability.
8. “International Artist Visas: Fractured Atlas.” International Artist Visas | Fractured Atlas. Accessed January 16, 2023. https://www.fracturedatlas.org/visas.
9. Cynova, Tim. 2019. “Opportunities To Live Our Anti-Racism, Anti-Oppression Values”. Fractured Atlas Blog. https://blog.fracturedatlas.org/opportunities-to-live-our-anti-racism-anti-oppression-values-4534aa5f3d95.
10. “Theresa Hubbard.” Fractured Atlas, Accessed November 29, 2023. https://www.fracturedatlas.org/team/theresa-hubbard
11. “Alberto Mejia.” Fractured Atlas, Accessed November 29, 2023. https://www.fracturedatlas.org/team/alberto-mejia
12. “Resisterhood (2020) | Documentary”. 2019. Resisterhood. Accessed April 22. https://www.resisterhooddoc.com/.
13. “Abort Mission”. 2019. Abort Mission. Accessed April 22. https://www.abortmission.org/.
14. “Action Tank”. 2019. Fundraising By Fractured Atlas. Accessed April 22. https://fundraising.fracturedatlas.org/action-tank.
15. “A Crack In Everything”. 2019. A Crack In Everything. Accessed April 22. http://www.crackineverything.com/.
16. 2017 Form 990. 2019. Ebook. New York City, NY: Fractured Atlas Productions. Accessed April 22. https://www.fracturedatlas.org/site/contribute/990s/FY2018-990.pdf.
17. “Fractured Atlas Productions”. 2019. The Kresge Foundation. Accessed April 22. https://kresge.org/grant/fractured-atlas-productions.
18. “Fractured Atlas Productions – For American Dance Abroad”. 2019. Hewlett Foundation. Accessed April 22. https://hewlett.org/grants/fractured-atlas-productions-for-american-dance-abroad/.
19. “Fractured Atlas, Inc.”. 2019. Rockefeller Brothers Fund. Accessed April 22. https://www.rbf.org/grantees/fractured-atlas-productions-inc.
20. “National Archival Initiative : Fractured Atlas, Inc.”. 2019. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Accessed April 22. https://mellon.org/grants/grants-database/grants/fractured-atlas-inc/1803-05626/.
21. “Grants Database”. 2019. Surdna Foundation. Accessed April 22. https://surdna.org/grants-database/?program_id=1&grantsYear=all&sort_column=board_meeting_date&grantsSearch=Fractured+Atlas+Productions.
22. Fractured Atlas, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2021, Part I. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/113451703/202320349349301627/full