台灣人聯合基金會 Taiwanese United Fund

TUF is a nonprofit organization that celebrates Taiwanese American cultural heritage. Founded in 1986, it has played a significant a role in advocating cultural diversity and continues to facilitate cultural exchange between the Taiwanese American community and other American cultural communities.

Mission

The mission of TUF is to facilitate cultural exchanges, leading to understanding and appreciation of Taiwanese culture, and to foster pride within the Taiwanese American community of its own cultural heritage. The mission is attained through such programs as:

Great Performance Series – showcases exceptional performing artists of Taiwanese heritage through culturally diverse stage performances;
Cultural Niaht Series – showcases art, film, literature, cuisine, artifacts and indigenous customs; and
Grants – provides seed funding for programs, researchers and productions that promote TUF’s mission.

Past Activities

TUF has presented 17 Cultural Nights, as well as a number of art exhibitions, literature forums, film screenings and many concerts. Semiscon at the Ford is the 21^st concert in TUF’s Great Performance Series.

In 1991, TUF commissioned renowned Taiwanese composer Tyzen Hsiao to complete three concerti for violin, piano and cello, respectively. Chao-Liang Lin and the San Diego Symphony Orchestra premiered the violin concerto in 1992 at TUFs 3^rd Great Performance concert.

Keynote speakers at past Cultural Nights include a Nobel Laureate scientist, artists, writers, linguists, poets, social advocates, an Internet-portal founder and an architectural historian. The 16^th Cultural Night, which took place in 2004, featured a 10-course vernacular Taiwanese banquet at the Westin Bonaventure in Los Angeles. All dishes were prepared by a dozen chefs who made a special trip for the event. About 1,200 guests attended the ”Whetting More Than Appetites” banquet, which was presented along with Taiwanese poems, a multi-media presentation and demonstrations by chefs and food critics.

In 2005, TUF collaborated with Broadway singer-producer Welly Yang and coproduced a Broadway show entitled ”Finding Home, Mr. Yang is the founder and artistic director of 2g, a New York-based non-profit theater company. The show had a sold-out premier at UCLA’s Royce Hall.

Through its Grant program, TUF has collaborated on various other projects with Asian Pacific Museum, KCET Television, Film Arts Foundation, Visual Communications, Zu Zu Film Production, University of Florida, Taiwanese American Writers Association, Taiwanese American Art Association and L.A. Arboretum Foundation, among many others.

南加州台灣人聯合基金會(Taiwanese United Fund)「南加州台灣人聯合基金會」成立於1986年，是洛杉磯當地非營利組織機構。在1980年代,南加州的台美人社區領袖及有識之士鑑於台灣文化需要被保存及推廣，乃於1986年由吳西面、林衡哲等人發起成立「台灣人聯合基金會」(Taiwanese United Fund, TUF) 致力於在美國保存及發揚台灣文化，讓台美人認識台灣傳統之美，以自己的台灣文化傳統而自豪，同時也讓其他族群瞭解和欣賞台灣文化的獨特性。

基金會每年舉行盛大的「台灣文化之夜」、在海外搭起展現台灣文化之美的舞台，歷年來在這舞台上展現的有台灣的音樂、美術、電影、歷史、戲劇等等，同時也邀請對台灣文化、民主、社會有貢獻的人物為演講者。歷年來的演講者包括林義雄、李遠哲、陳郁秀等，主題也隨著時代不斷演進和變化，介紹台灣電影、台灣美食、台灣茶……等多元文化給海外各個族裔，幫助大家認識台灣。

1992年在吳澧培先生贊助下，開始「台灣名家演奏系列」，由胡乃元小提琴獨奏會揭開序幕，多年來先後邀請過小提琴家林昭亮、陳慕融、蘇顯達等；鋼琴家陳泰成、陳毓襄、葉綠娜、吳涵、劉孟捷等；大提琴家楊文信、范雅志、陳建安等以及聲樂家陳麗嬋和曾道雄等。其中極為重要的成就包括催生了三首蕭泰然不朽的協奏曲；以及1997年舉辦海內外最盛大的「228紀念音樂會」；2016年在TUF三十周年時舉辦的「曾宇謙小提琴獨奏會」尤其得到熱烈的迴響。

2007年開始為吸引第二代的參與，辨過十二場以英語為主台語為輔的「TUF Salon」，後改名做「Abt:_藝文系列」；講座包括胡長松主講「台語長篇小說“復活的人”的創作經驗與西拉雅身世書寫」、張復聚主講「太陽花世代ê母語態度」……等。

「台灣人聯合基金會」期待透過文化藝術活動提供台美兩地藝術家及藝術愛好者交流契機；一方面豐富南加州社區藝文風氣，另一方面與當地居民分享臺灣人文自然風情、認識台灣多元化的面貌與鄉土之美，成功向南加地區推展台灣的優質形象。

http://www.tufusa.org/