The Lannan Foundation is a left-of-center private foundation that supports Native American activism, the arts, and the critical race theory-influenced concepts of social justice, education justice, and economic justice. ^{1 2 3}

In April 2022, the Lannan Foundation announced plans to spend down its assets in support of its existing mission and close by 2032. ⁴

History and Leadership

The Lannan Foundation was founded in 1960 by “liberal thinker,” self-educated scholar, and modern American and European art collector and procurer Patrick Lannan, Sr. After Lannan’s death in 1983, the foundation received an endowment from his estate. In 1986, the Foundation moved from Lake Worth, Florida, to Los Angeles, California. ⁴

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the Foundation expanded its programming and art collection. In 1994, the Lannan Foundation established the Indigenous Communities Program to support rural Native American communities. In 1997, the Foundation moved again, from Los Angeles to Santa Fe, New Mexico, ⁴ and received tax-exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service. ⁵

In April 2022, the Lannan Foundation announced plans to wind down its assets in support of its existing mission and close by 2032. ^{4 4}

As of November 2024, Brenda Coughlin is the Lannan Foundation’s executive director. Lawrence P. Lannan, Jr. is the foundation’s president. ^{6 7}

Activities and Funding

The Lannan Foundation is a left-of-center family foundation dedicated to what it considers “cultural freedom, diversity, and creativity.” The foundation mainly supports contemporary artists and writers and Native American activists in rural Native American communities. Its support primarily comes through grants to nonprofit organizations on topics of contemporary visual art, literature, and what it considers cultural freedom. ¹

In 1989, the Lannan Foundation established the Lannan Literary Awards and Fellowships program. The organization has established Cultural Freedom grants to support the far-left concepts of social justice, education justice, prison reform and abolition, environmental justice, social justice, economic justice, and other left-of-center topics. ^{2 3}

The Foundation also runs a literary grant program; a residency fellowship program for writers, translators, essayists, Native American activists, and left-of-center social justice activists; ⁸ and an Indigenous Communities program. ^{9 10}

Previously, the Foundation ran the Lannan Residency Program in Marfa, Texas, which funded more than 360 fellows for two decades. ¹¹

Grantmaking

The Lannan Foundation is primarily a grantmaking foundation. Its grants focus on contemporary and modern art exhibitions, art installations, art museums, and Native American art. ¹² In 2022, the foundation announced that it plans to close by 2032 and spend out all its assets on programs associated with these causes. ¹¹

In 2023, the Lannan Foundation made $11,781,275 in grants. These grants included $4,044,000 to the Center for Economic Change and Social Research, $500,000 to Jewish Voice for Peace,  $500,000 to the Euchee Language Project, $500,000 to the Seventh Generation Fund for Indigenous Peoples, $500,000 to the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico Foundation, $500,000 to AHA Punana Leo Hale Kipa O’Iwi, $500,000 to the Keres Children’s Learning Center, $500,000 to Radius Books, $400,000 to Cave Canem, $400,000 to Truthout, $300,000 to Copper Canyon Press, $200,000 to the Tides Center, $160,000 to Graywolf Press, $150,000 to the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, $120,000 to the University of Arizona Foundation, $101,000 to the Middle East Cultural and Charitable Society, $100,000 to the Thunder Valley Community Development Center, $100,000 to the Marxist Jacobin Foundation, $100,000 to Red Cloud Indian School, $100,000 to the State Democracy Project, $100,000 to Education for a Just Peace in the Middle East, and others. ¹³

Funding

The Lannan Foundation receives most of its funding from dividends and interest on securities. The Foundation received an infusion of cash from the estate of its founder, Patrick Lannan, Sr., following his death in 1983. ⁴

In 2023, the Foundation reported revenue of $6,734,286 and expenses of $15,893,382. ¹⁴ In 2022, the foundation reported revenue of $21,792,027 and expenses of $24,969,474. ¹⁵

1. “Mission.” Lannan Foundation. Accessed November 8, 2024. https://lannan.org/about.
2. “Prizes, Awards and Fellowships.” Lannan Foundation. Accessed November 8, 2024. https://lannan.org/programs/awards.
3. “Cultural Freedom.” Lannan Foundation. Accessed November 11, 2024. https://lannan.org/programs/cultural-freedom.
4. “About Lannan.” Lannan Foundation. Accessed November 8, 2024. https://lannan.org/about.
5. “Lannan Foundation.” Pro Publica. Accessed November 8, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/366062451.
6. “Lannan Foundation.” CauseIQ. Accessed November 8, 2024. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/lannan-foundation,366062451/.
7. “Lannan Foundation.” Return of Private Foundation. (Form 990-PF). 2023. Part VII. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/366062451/202421729349101112/full.
8. ^[1] “Residency.” Lannan Foundation. Accessed November 8, 2024. https://lannan.org/programs/residency.
9. “Indigenous Communities.” Lannan Foundation. Accessed November 8, 2024. https://lannan.org/programs/indigenous-communities.
10. “Literary Program.” Lannan Foundation. Accessed November 8, 2024. https://lannan.org/programs/literary.
11. “Foundation to Close in Next Ten Years.” Lannan. Accessed November 8, 2024. https://mailchi.mp/lannan/closure.
12. “Art Grants.” Lannan Foundation. Accessed November 8, 2024. https://lannan.org/programs/art/grants.
13. “Lannan Foundation.” Return of Private Foundation. (Form 990-PF). 2023. Part XIV. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/366062451/202421729349101112/full.
14. “Lannan Foundation.” Return of Private Foundation. (Form 990-PF). 2023. Part I. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/366062451/202421729349101112/full.
15. “Lannan Foundation.” Return of Private Foundation. (Form 990-PF). 2022. Part I. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/366062451/202341329349103664/full.