"A Really Good Bet for the Future": Anne Van Ingen's Legacy Giving
Anne H. Van Ingen has been a fixture of the New York preservation community for decades. She served as the Director of the Architecture, Planning & Design Program and Capital Projects at the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) from 1983 to 2010. Her work at NYSCA had a significant impact on preservation efforts across the state. While there, she helped spearhead Preserve New York, the regrant partnership that is still a cornerstone of our programming today. Since its inception in 1993, Preserve New York has invested more than $3 million in 457 projects statewide.
Anne is currently the Chairman of the Board of the Adirondack Experience, the Museum on Blue Mountain Lake and President of the St. Regis Foundation, a land trust in the Adirondacks. She is also on the boards of Pratt Institute and the James Marston Fitch Charitable Foundation. She served as an Advisor to the National Trust for Historic Preservation from 1999 to 2008. In 2019, she was awarded the Landmark Lion Award from Historic Districts Council.
After retiring from NYSCA, Anne joined the League’s Board of Trustees. She served as Board Chair from 2012-2018 before moving over to our Trustees Council. Her support of the League’s work and her active participation in driving it forward has been integral to many of our successes. Beyond her involvement as a colleague and a volunteer, she has also chosen to support the League as a legacy donor. Anne recently named the League in her estate plans, and we are incredibly grateful for her generosity. Since planned giving is something we don’t usually talk too much about, we wanted to check in with Anne to shine some light on why she decided to take this step to help ensure the League’s future.
How did you first get involved with the Preservation League and how long have you been a Trustee?
I became a student member of the League in 1978 when I was in the Historic Preservation Program at Columbia. I’ve been a member ever since. I became a Trustee in 2012 after retiring from the New York State Council on the Arts where I’d been a funder of the League for many years. So I knew you all well when I happily signed on as a Trustee.
What are your fondest memories of your time being involved with the League?
There are many. Preservation is not just about saving good old buildings. We pursue it because it is perhaps the best way to achieve the broader goal of creating better, more livable communities across the state. That only happens through great relationships with a lot of creative, energetic and really committed people who see this bigger goal. And so my best memories are about the people I’ve worked with over many decades. A stand out from many years ago was working with Tania Werbizky, then the League’s Director of Technical Assistance, to establish two great partnerships between NYSCA and the League — the Preserve New York Program and the Colleagues Program, both still in business. Tania and I sealed the deal over coffee and a plate of peanut logs from the Home Dairy in Ithaca. A memorable afternoon.
A photo from our 2019 Excellence in Historic Preservation Awards where Anne Van Ingen was honored for her years of service as Chairman of our Board of Directors. She is pictured with Paul R. Provost to her left, who took over the Chairman role, and League President Jay DiLorenzo to her right.
More recently, being Chairman of the Board was an honor and a pleasure. Working closely with Jay and his great staff and my fellow Trustees and Trustee Council members to move the preservation ball forward, cheerleading, helping raise money, bringing friends and connections to the table, celebrating and more. All of it was invigorating and very satisfying. Preservation is all about people.
What matters most to you about our work?
The fact that it is strategic and catalytic. New York is an enormous state, and the League’s small staff can’t work with every building owner or help with every local issue. It can, however, put in place programs and encourage public policies that have an enormous impact in every corner of the state. The success in securing the enhancements to the NYS Rehabilitation Tax Credit comes to mind. This is an organization with a small footprint but a huge impact.
Why do you think historic preservation is urgent and important right now?
Preservation has always been important. However, its values and way of looking at the world are being recognized by a much broader constituency, one that understands our approach to the built environment is important when thinking about the larger issue of climate change. The historic preservation field has a lot to say to our partners in the environmental and sustainability movements, and those relationships strengthen all of these related stewardship efforts. In addition, we are all now focused on diversity, equity and inclusion and know that buildings and sites can often tell previously unknown stories best. Preserving all kinds of historically and culturally significant buildings and sites for the lessons they teach is now more important than ever.
You recently named the League in your estate plans – thank you! Can you talk a little about that process, and why you thought making a bequest was important?
I have spent my career thinking about and working toward making sure the nonprofit historic preservation sector is sustainable over time. Naming the League in my estate plans was a natural outgrowth of that. Specifically, it’s an organization I know well, care about a great deal and, as noted above, is really effective with its strategic and catalytic approach. It has always had an enormous impact on my home state, and I don’t see that changing. I’ve supported it for decades, and that will now continue after I’m gone. I’m trying to do my part to make sure the League thrives for many, many more years. That’s important.
What do you hope your gift will accomplish?
I’m hoping my estate plans and my willingness to talk about them will galvanize others to join me in legacy giving to the League. All of us who do so will give it a foundation upon which to continue making change throughout New York State.
What would you say to others about legacy giving?
That this is a really good bet for the future. The League is strong and nimble and will be meeting the evolving challenges in our changing world for decades to come through a field we all care so much about. Legacy giving is also really easy to do. You don’t have to rewrite your will to do it.
If you’re interested in talking to us about potentially naming the League in your estate plans, our Director of Development Betsy Gramkow would love to speak with you.