Local nonprofit Art 180 announced Tuesday that it will be closing this August due to financial difficulties, which it attributed in part to severance paid last year to two departing senior employees.

The organization, which is headquartered in Jackson Ward, said that it has operated at a deficit for the last three years, and was unable to find a path forward.

External funding pressures "were further compounded by internal challenges," according to the release. "Leadership transition costs, including unbudgeted severance payments to prior leadership, came at a time when reserves were already constrained."

Executive Director Tanesha Powell, who joined the organization last year, said in the release that leadership is accountable "to protect the organization's future" on behalf of the youth.

"That accountability was not consistently upheld in the years before I arrived," Powell wrote. "When I came in, my goal was to help stabilize and strengthen our infrastructure so that this important work for young people could continue. We made meaningful progress, but we could not fully recover from what had already been lost.”

Co-founder Marlene Paul led the organization as executive director until May of last year, and worked alongside Deputy Director Nicole Jones, who also serves on Richmond's City Council.

In a Tuesday interview, Art 180 Board Vice President Monarose Ryan described the sequence of events after Paul's departure. Jones interviewed for the executive director job, but was not chosen.

Ryan said Jones was then let go, because the board saw a need for a director of development position, to work on fundraising, instead of a deputy director position.

"There was a request by both persons, who had been with the organization for a long time, for a severance package," Ryan said. "And it was presented in a way to board members that there was a lot of money that the organization had. But I think what was missing at the time, and what we would later come to understand, was that the money wasn't liquid.

"That caused a lot of misunderstanding at the time. There were negotiations regarding the severance packages for these two individuals. And what had not been made clear when we voted was that by providing the severance that we ended up agreeing upon, it would put the organization in the negative."

Art 180 sold a condo it owned, among other emergency stabilization efforts, but the board ultimately concluded it could not continue operating in good faith, and opted to wind down over the summer, instead of potentially impacting students during the school year.

Attempts to reach Jones by phone and text on Tuesday were unsuccessful.

Paul gave a statement to Style Weekly:

“After so many years, I expected the transition to new leadership would be complex," she wrote. "What we built together at Art 180 was strong — an engaged community, a legacy of longstanding supporters, and meaningful impact across generations. I’m deeply grateful to all the people who invested in and cared for Art 180 alongside me, and heartbroken by this outcome.”

Ryan, who is relatively new to the board, said the loss of a "safe, communal third space" for youth is the toughest part of the decision.

She said the board made its decision to ensure there could be a proper goodbye and time to allow staff and students to make plans for next year.

As of 2024, the organization said it had run more than 700 programs impacting more than 8,800 young people.

The organization will continue to run programming through the summer, concluding with a final youth exhibition on Aug. 7.

"Just being able to celebrate one another, and honor the space," Ryan said. "Bringing it back to what it's always been about, which is having a space for one another and a shared communal space where we can all feel like we belong, and see each other for who we are – and honoring the kids who we have been in service of this whole time."

There is an online message board to leave memories and messages for the staff.

Contact Michael Phillips at mphillips@richmonder.org.