Cultural Activities

The Portuguese Foundation, Inc. was founded in 1990, dedicated to the advancement of Portuguese People and dissemination of Portuguese culture throughout the State of Connecticut. Providing scholarships to worthy students of Portuguese Ancestry is one of the primary objectives of the Foundation in fulfilling its mission. However, the Portuguese Foundation is not simply an organization that hands out scholarships. Over the past 18 years, the Foundation has participated in activities which have disseminated the Portuguese culture throughout the State of Connecticut.

• Educational lectures by prominent authors and professors: Dr. Ana Hatherly, Professor, University of Nova Lisboa; Francisco Cota Fagundes, University of Massachusetts at Amherst; Dr. George Monteiro, Brown University; Clara Pinto Correa, Professor, University of Massachusetts at Amherst; Olga Goncalves, Poet; Isabel Pires de Lima, Professor, University of Porto; Dr. Antonio A. Cirurgiao, Professor, University of Connecticut; Dr. Joao Medina, Professor, University of Lisbon, Visiting Professor at Brown University; Dr. Ana Mafalda Leite, Professor, University of Lisbon; Dr. Onesimo Teotonio de Almeida, Brown University; Dr. Manuel Luciano da Silva, Medical Doctor, Historian and Author; Dr. Antonio Simoes, Dean, University of Fairfield; Dr. K. David Jackason, Professor, Yale University; and Dr. Arnaldo Saraiva, University of Porto.
• Educational conferences: Co-sponsored with the Portuguese Continental Union and participated at the 7th Portuguese Congress of Language and Culture, held at Trinity College, Hartford.; Assisted in the promotion of the XIV Symposium of Spanish and Portuguese Bilingualism at Fairfield University; Representation at the International Week of the Charles Wright School in Wethersfield; Sponsored the conference, "Columbus was a Portuguese Jew" at Trinity College, Hartford; Participation at the Multilingual Day at Mark Twain Memorial; Co-sponsored with the University of Connecticut, a conference, "Portuguese Culture in India, Malaysia and Ceylon;" Collaborated with the Portuguese Embassy of Washington D.C. to host "The Prospective of the Community," a cartography exhibit that explored settlements of Portuguese-Americans geographically in the U.S., at Trinity College, Hartford.
• Portuguese Films: Co-sponsored a travelogue film about Portugal at the Bushnell Auditorium, Hartford, where the Rancho Folclorico performed; Co-sponsored, individually and jointly, with the Instituto Camões, the Portuguese Language Program at the University of Connecticut, and Real Art Ways, Hartford, numerous Portuguese films and documentaries that were shown at Real Art Ways.
• Concerts: Co-promoted, with Real Art Ways, a concert by international recording artist and fado singer, Cristina Branco, held at Real Art Ways Theatre, Hartford; Co-promoted a concert held at First Church of Christ Congregational, in West Hartford Center, by a duo, Lvsitanvs, from Portugal, comprised of sisters Ana Elias and Sara Elias, who performed on a carillon, a musical instrument consisting of at least 23 cupped shaped bells played from a baton keyboard using fists and feet.
• Networking functions: Numerous networking functions held at various Portuguese Restaurants and Clubs. The latest networking function was a wine tasting event held last autumn in Wallingford at Gouveia Vineyards, which is owned by a Portuguese-American, and is a member of the Connecticut Wine Trail. The wine tasting featured a performance given by the Rancho Folclorico of the Portuguese Club of Hartford.
• Cultural Events: The Portuguese Foundation, Inc. is a participating member of the Day of Portugal Organization, and its members have volunteered by manning food, drink and ticket booths at the festival. Scholarship winners have joined Foundation members in marching behind the Foundation's banner in the Day of Portugal Parade in Hartford. The Foundation has also marched in the Day of Portugal Parade with a large wooden replica of its logo, the caravela.