57 American middle and high school teachers visited Turkey this summer on two 14-day TCF Teacher Study Tours, sponsored and organized by TCF in cooperation with the World Affairs Councils of America (WACA) and WACA chapters. Upon their return, the teachers will share their experiences with their local communities through cultural programs, called "Portraits of Turkey," organized by the WACA chapters with funding from TCF. Since 2007, the TCF Teacher Study Tours introduced 348 American educators to Turkey.

For Comments by the teachers about their study tour and a Trailer of "Broad Horizons," a documentary on the TCF Teacher Study Tours, please visit the TCF website.

The TCF "Who's Who in Turkish Art and Culture" online database surpassed 2,000 entries of living Turkish artists, artisans and experts. The goal of the TCF "Who's Who" is to promote Turkish artists worldwide, while making it easy for people of common cultural interests to find each other and collaborate on projects that celebrate Turkish cultural heritage.

TCF was the main sponsor of the 5th General Edition of the Intensive Schools on Conservation Science held in Istanbul on July 19-29, 2011 at Marmara University. The Schools are part of the EU Lifelong Learning Program and deal with the physiochemical aspects of cultural heritage preservation and how natural and material sciences are applied in the safeguarding and authentication of tangible works of art. Dr. Recep Karadag, Head of the TCF Natural Dye Research and Development Laboratory, DATU, chaired the event. Over 120 participants from 12 countries attended the School and also had a chance to visit DATU.

A TCF grant to Floating World Projects, a US NGO supporting collaborative artistic projects, enabled the opening of an exhibition featuring Turkish artists Ayse Balyemez, Hande Buyukatli and Gulfidan Ozmen. The exhibition titled Invisible Cities opened at the Society of Arts and Crafts in Boston on August 6 and will remain open until October 22.

TCF has provided a major grant to the 9th Annual Washington Turkish Festival, organized by the American Turkish Association of Washington, DC. The festival was voted the “Best DC Festival” in 2010 and attracts tens of thousands of Washingtonians every year. This year’s festival will take place again in downtown Washington on October 2nd. For information on Turkish festivals in the US and around the world, visit the TCF Festival Newsletter.

A TCF grant to the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archeology and Anthropology supported the visit of Prema Desmukh, Penn Museum Educator and Manager of Outreach, to Gordion, Ankara and Istanbul to broaden her knowledge of the history, culture and art of Gordion firsthand. Penn Museum has a strong connection with Turkey and a long-standing interest in the Gordion excavation. Previously, TCF provided UPENN with funding for an exhibition on Gordion, titled "His Golden Touch: The Gordion Drawings of Piet de Jong" and many other Turkey-related programs, including a visiting fellowship to Dr. Halil Demirdelen, a Turkish museum administrator. Most recently, TCF provided a grant to support an exhibition by Turkish photographer Ahmet Ertug, titled "Vaults of Heaven: Visions of Byzantium," which will be on display from October 15, 2011 - February 12, 2011 at the Penn Museum.

For the fourth year, students of Santa Clara University's Global Fellows Program have chosen Istanbul and the TCF Istanbul office as their internship destination. The Istanbul office hosts two interns, Nate Funkhauser and Aven Satre-Meloy, from Santa Clara University this summer.