Nonprofit · EIN 74-2503370
THE CORTEZ CENTER INC
Tax-exempt · CORTEZ, CO 81321
Financials
| Year ended | Form | Revenue | Expenses | Net income | Total assets | Liabilities | Net assets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, 2025 | 990 | $130,766 | $135,273 | -$4,507 | $351,483 | $26,091 | $325,392 |
| December 31, 2024 | 990 (amended) | $144,599 | $135,990 | $8,609 | $352,431 | $22,532 | $329,899 |
| December 31, 2023 | 990 | $225,315 | $110,532 | $114,783 | $330,501 | $9,211 | $321,290 |
Financial details: 990 for the year ended December 31, 2025
Revenue
- Contributions, gifts and grants
- $101,972
- of which government grants
- $33,000
- Membership dues
- $5,265
- Program service revenue
- $33,799
- Investment income
- $6
- Net income from sales of inventory
- -$8,791
- Other revenue
- -$5,011
Expenses
- Grants and similar amounts paid
- $0
- Compensation of officers, directors and key employees
- $31,912
- Other salaries and wages
- $240
- Salaries, compensation and benefits (total)
- $35,840
- Professional fundraising fees
- $0
- Accounting fees
- $8,905
- Occupancy
- $33,043
- Travel
- $122
- Depreciation
- $7,429
- Program services (functional)
- $77,204
- Management and general (functional)
- $46,201
- Fundraising (functional)
- $11,868
Balance sheet and other
- Total assets, start of year
- $352,431
- Total assets, end of year
- $351,483
- Total liabilities, end of year
- $26,091
- Net assets, end of year
- $325,392
- Land, buildings and equipment
- $186,788
- Net assets without donor restrictions
- $325,392
- Gross receipts
- $220,872
- Employees
- 5
- Volunteers
- 13
- Year formed
- 1988
- State of legal domicile
- CO
From the e-filed returns the IRS publishes as XML (latest three processing years; amended returns replace the original). PDF copies at the IRS.
Officers, directors and key employees
As listed on the 990 for the year ended December 31, 2025, highest compensation first.
| Name | Title | Hours / week | Compensation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Susan Lisak | Executive Director | 25 | $31,912 |
| Paul Beckler | Treasurer Trustee or director, Officer | 2 | $0 |
| Debi Berger | Secretary Trustee or director, Officer | 1 | $0 |
| Sherry Owen-Siekmann | President Trustee or director, Officer | 1 | $0 |
| Diane Cherbak | Vice President Trustee or director, Officer | 2 | $0 |
| Tom Hooten | Director Trustee or director | 2 | $0 |
| Kathy Sipley | Director Trustee or director | 1 | $0 |
990 for the year ended December 31, 2024: 8 people
| Name | Title | Hours / week | Compensation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shere Holleman | Executive Director | 20 | $32,903 |
| Paul Beckler | Treasurer Trustee or director, Officer | 2 | $0 |
| Lynn Dyer | Director Trustee or director | 1 | $0 |
| Debi Berger | Director Trustee or director | 1 | $0 |
| Sherry Owen-Siekmann | Director Trustee or director | 1 | $0 |
| Diane Cherbak | Vice President Trustee or director, Officer | 2 | $0 |
| Holly Ann Tatnall | President Trustee or director, Officer | 2 | $0 |
| Kathy Sipley | Director Trustee or director | 1 | $0 |
990 for the year ended December 31, 2023: 7 people
| Name | Title | Hours / week | Compensation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rebecca Levy | Executive Director | 35 | $22,419 |
| Paul Beckler | Treasurer Trustee or director, Officer | 2 | $0 |
| Lynn Dyer | Director Trustee or director | 1 | $0 |
| Sherry Owen-Siekmann | Director Trustee or director | 1 | $0 |
| Diane Cherbak | Vice President Trustee or director, Officer | 2 | $0 |
| Holly Ann Tatnall | President Trustee or director, Officer | 2 | $0 |
| Tom Hooton | Director Trustee or director | 1 | $0 |
Address and contacts
- Address (IRS master file)
- 25 N MARKET ST, CORTEZ, CO 81321-3212
- Principal officer (990 for 2025)
- Sherry Owen-Siekmann, 25 N MARKET STREET, CORTEZ, CO 81321
- Signed the 990
- Susan Lisak, Executive Director
- Phone
- (970) 565-1151
- Website
- WWW.CORTEZCULTURALCENTER.ORG
- Return prepared by
- FORTH & ASSOCIATES PC
Mission
The mission of the Cortez Cultural Center is to provide programs that enrich the lives of our community and its visitors by increasing cultural awareness, promoting the arts, and educating about the area's history, diversity and natural environment.
Program accomplishments
- Gallery Exhibits and Opening ReceptionsFor the past several years (before, during and since the Pandemic) the Centers gallery exhibits featuring local artists were few and far between. Since July 2023, this has become our major focus with five different exhibits and opening receptions in 2025.We featured a new exhibit almost every month throughout 2025, with various themes, one-person, group exhibits, and installations.Last year, about 75 artists participated in the gallery exhibits. Many of the exhibits are curated with community member artists joining the committees. Often, they are planned around a theme (such as Avian Art during our annual Birding Festival in May, and Recycled Art made from food wrappers during our Everybody Eats event in October). In all exhibits we strive to keep the exhibits in harmony with the context of our community. A large part of our community are ranchers and farmers and our exhibit in April will celebrate them and rural life.Native American artists are always welcome and featured in the Center Gallery as well as in our Gift Shop (which is more like a museum store).All of the opening receptions are free and open to the public and we do not charge the artists submission fees for exhibit applications. If works are for sale in an exhibit, and they sell, the artists pay a modest commission to the Center.The gallery exhibits enhance our relationships with local artists and crafters, involve them in the Centers programming and planning, and provideExpenses $50,050 · revenue $30,175
- The Annual Ute Mountain Mesa Verde Birding Festival provides a popular venue for visiting southwestern Colorado during the second weekend in May. Nestled between alpine and mesa forests and scenic desert canyons, the Four Corners intriguingly diverse landscapes, and mild climate, have drawn people to the region for generations. Ancestral Pueblo farmers dwelled in places now known as Mesa Verde, Hovenweep, and Canyon of the Ancients. Todays meadows, pastures, cultivated fields, historic orchards, stock ponds and reservoirs establish habitat for a wide-spectrum of migratory and resident birds. Some species, such as Lucys Warbler, are found no place else in ColoradoExpenses $13,592 · revenue $28,729
- Native American DancesOur Native American Dance program is our signature program, which showcases local indigenous dancers, drummers, and singers who share their traditional stories and songs with the community in the Centers outdoor plaza and dancing circle. For over 27 years, we have presented this nightly program throughout the Summer, June - August, where the traditional dances and songs have been passed down through four generations of performers. Audience members are encouraged to participate with the performers in the Circle Dance and engage directly with the dancers after each performance.The Native American Dances are an hour-long performance that happen five nights per week for an 8-12 week period.Over 2,000 audience members of all ages attended 60 performances in 2025.38 Ute and Din singers, dancers, drummers, and storytellers from four generations ranging from 3 to 78 years old, performed with one another and their audiences.The Native American Dance program is free to the audience, but the performers are paid an honorarium for each and every performance through grant funding.Visitors to the area make it a point to attend our Native American Dances and, as the tourism Director for Montezuma County once said, Visitors to our area usually come for Mesa Verde National Park and/or Canyons of the Ancients National Monument. Then they go to the Native American Dances at the Cultural Center. Then they come inside the Center and get to meet our Cultural Specialist, get information and answers to their questions, and view our exhibits.Expenses $13,562 · revenue $20,000
What it must file and when
IRS records say it files Form 990 or 990-EZ. Based on its last return; a smaller organization may file the 990-N. Its accounting year ends in December, so each return is due on the 15th day of the 5th month after that.
| Tax year | Year ended | Due | IRS public records |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | December 31, 2025 | May 15, 2026 | 990 on file |
| 2024 | December 31, 2024 | May 15, 2025 | 990 on file |
| 2023 | December 31, 2023 | May 15, 2024 | 990 on file |
IRS record
- EIN
- 74-2503370
- Tax-exempt status
- 501(c)(3): Charitable, religious, educational or scientific organization
- Foundation status
- Publicly supported organization (170(b)(1)(A)(vi))
- Donations deductible (Pub 78)
- Public charity, 50% deduction limit
- Exempt since
- 1988
- Accounting year ends
- December
- Files
- Form 990 or 990-EZ
- Assets (IRS master file)
- $351,483
- Income (IRS master file)
- $220,872
Filing history
| Form | Year ended | Revenue | Expenses | Assets | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 990 | December 2025 | $130,766 | $135,273 | $351,483 | XML |
| 990 | December 2024 | $144,599 | $135,990 | $352,431 | XML |
| 990 | December 2023 | $225,315 | $110,532 | $330,501 | XML |
| 990 | December 2022 | $143,126 | $252,742 | $254,428 | IRS |
| 990 | December 2021 | – | – | – | IRS |
| 990 | December 2020 | – | – | – | IRS |
| 990 | December 2018 | – | – | – | IRS |
| 990 | December 2017 | – | – | – | IRS |
990-N: the IRS bulk file holds only the latest e-Postcard per organization; earlier years come from archived copies of that file since 2020 and can have gaps (the IRS e-Postcard search lists every one). 990, 990-EZ, 990-PF, 990-T: every e-filed return in the IRS e-file index since 2019; XML for the latest three processing years, amounts from the IRS Statistics of Income extracts before that. PDF copies and determination letters at the IRS (search EIN 74-2503370).
Questions about THE CORTEZ CENTER INC
- What is the EIN of THE CORTEZ CENTER INC?
- The employer identification number (EIN) of THE CORTEZ CENTER INC is 74-2503370.
- Is THE CORTEZ CENTER INC tax-exempt?
- Yes. The IRS lists it as tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) since 1988.
- Are donations to THE CORTEZ CENTER INC tax-deductible?
- Yes. It is listed in IRS Publication 78 (Public charity, 50% deduction limit).
- Which annual return does THE CORTEZ CENTER INC file?
- Form 990 or 990-EZ. Based on its last return; a smaller organization may file the 990-N.
- When is the next return of THE CORTEZ CENTER INC due?
- The return for tax year 2026 (the year ending December 31, 2026) is due May 17, 2027. Form 8868 extends it by six months; the 990-N cannot be extended.
- When did THE CORTEZ CENTER INC last file with the IRS?
- The latest return in the IRS public files is the 990 for the year ended December 2025.
- Who is the principal officer of THE CORTEZ CENTER INC?
- The 990 for the year ended December 31, 2025 names Sherry Owen-Siekmann.
- Who are the officers and directors of THE CORTEZ CENTER INC?
- The 990 for the year ended December 31, 2025 lists 7 people; 1 received compensation from the organization, the highest $31,912 (Susan Lisak, Executive Director).
- How much revenue does THE CORTEZ CENTER INC have?
- On its 990 for the year ended December 31, 2025 it reported revenue of $130,766, expenses of $135,273 and total assets of $351,483 at year end.
Other nonprofits in CORTEZ
- SOUTHWEST HEALTH SYSTEM INC EIN 84-1337350 · last filed 990 for 2024
- EMPIRE ELECTRIC ASSOCIATION INC EIN 84-6035888 · last filed 990 for 2025
- CROW CANYON ARCHAEOLOGICAL CENTER EIN 84-0631786 · last filed 990 for 2025
- OUR OWN LIVES EIN 92-3922045 · last filed 990 for 2025
- ONWARD A LEGACY FOUNDATION EIN 26-0045741 · last filed 990 for 2024
- THE PINON PROJECT EIN 84-1284735 · last filed 990 for 2025
- MONTEZUMA VALLEY IRRIGATION COMPANY EIN 84-0270210 · last filed 990 for 2024
- SOUTHWEST OPEN SCHOOL EIN 36-4824426 · last filed 990 for 2025