From the Director’s Chair
Scenes From a (multi) Cultural Life
For at least thirty years, one of the main topics of conversation among us has been "Diversity," an idea that often sails under the flag of "Multiculturalism." Many moons past, we started by talking about how to "create diversity," (as though we could!) and have progressed finally to the point at which we talk about how to "celebrate" it. But the lesson of my own life tells me that Diversity is simply the state of grace in which we Americans live.
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Harmony of Purpose

June 8, 2010

There is a natural harmony between the mission of the Tateuchi Foundation and Tateuchi Center. The Foundation’s mission is to build bridges, improve understanding, and promote artistic and cultural exchanges between the United States and Japan. Our mission is to transform lives and enrich the community by presenting artistic, cultural, educational, and entertainment experiences of the highest quality for everyone within our reach. The harmony between our missions will find its expression in the artists and performances we present, showcasing brilliance and creativity without borders.

Tateuchi Center embraces a vision that traces its origins to the founding of its parent organization, PACE. From the beginning, we have believed that—in a truly multi-cultural society—the arts hold a unique power to forge understanding, respect, and friendship. We live in an unusually diverse community, blessed by nature and good fortune, on the eastern edge of the Pacific Rim. Much of the entrepreneurial energy of our region is defined by that fact. It is fitting that the first regional cultural center of the 21st Century should also look toward Asia as a source of energy and inspiration.

Every season at Tateuchi Center will be woven from many strands—from classical music and Broadway shows, from Bluegrass and Jazz, from Ballet and Bollywood. Some strands will stretch from Japan, China, and India to our stages in Bellevue. Others will reach from Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and the Americas. The artists may live in Kyoto, Kirkland, or Karachi. Whether the art is global or local, we will bring performers and audiences together in the hope that lives will be changed for the better, cultural bridges will be built, hearts and minds will open to new possibilities.

We believe that, as much as we create art, our Arts create us. We cherish them as the best and most universal evidence of our common humanity. They give us the means to understand and share a conception of what it means to be human and alive. We reinforce our communal and individual identities with the Arts—able to hear in music the tragedy we can barely face in our own hearts, or the pride we feel in our people; seeing in dance the unfettered joy of a spirit in flight, or simply a physical manifestation of inexpressible beauty. Whatever it may be, there is something that will touch everyone, because fundamentally, the Arts are transformative.