Lannan’s life: The greatest impact right now
Asweet goodbye: J. Patrick Lannan Jr. left this world Wednesday, his wife and daughter by his side. At 83, the man who ran a foundation dedicated to cultural freedom, creativity and diversity has departed.
His Lannan Foundation enriched Santa Fe with a long series of readings and events designed to spur conversation and reflection through more than two decades. Tens of thousands of people have attended Lannan Foundation affairs, listening to authors, poets, activists, scholars and thinkers. The Readings and Conversations offered moments to reflect, time to pause and think. Amid the noise of modern life, that pause is essential.
These weren’t events for the elite, either. For years, tickets were $6. Now they are $8, but affordable even for people with little spare change in their pockets. Retired seniors on a fixed income or young people with only a minimum wage job could attend and hear great thinkers of our day.
The foundation — founded by Lannan’s father, J. Patrick Lannan Sr. — began in 1960 with a focus on art. Lannan Sr. wanted to acquire and display his contemporary art collection. His foundation grew to support visual arts and literacy, moving from Florida to Los Angeles.
Three years after he died, the modern foundation era began in 1986 with a $100 million endowment from the estate. Earlier this year, Lannan Jr. told The New Mexican the fund had grown to $150 million. A longtime visitor to New Mexico, Lannan moved the foundation here in 1997, partly because an ongoing Indigenous communities initiative seemed to belong in a place where Native people lived.
“We were told that 40 percent of the Native population lived within 400 miles of Santa Fe,” Lannan Jr. told the newspaper. That may be a slight exaggeration, but placing the foundation in a place Indigenous people call home meant that a close working relationship could be formed between grantors and grantees. The idea was that grants would support tribal initiatives — whether in language preservation, cultural heritage, environmental work or other areas Native people believed important to their continued survival. It was a grant process based on respect.
Earlier this year the foundation announced its philanthropy efforts would wind down by 2032. The remaining millions are going to be spent. At the time the announcement was made in April, Lannan Jr. said, “We see this accelerated spend out as an evolution, not a deviation. We never intended to operate in perpetuity, and we want to have the greatest impact we can right now.”
Foundation leaders were deciding how best to proceed before Lannan Jr.’s death, a process that will continue — it’s likely he made his wishes known before saying goodbye. After all, it was his stewardship of the original foundation that contributed to much good over the years, with more to come in the years ahead.
His was a life that enriched those around him, including his neighbors in Santa Fe — where he chose to live, work and do good. He wanted to make the greatest impact right now.
Words to live by.