“Chew’s Culture Foundation” was founded in 1991. Founder Mr. Andrew Chew is not only an entrepreneur but also an art collector who has a love for music. Mr. Andrew Chew, along with his dear friend, musician Prof. Ma Shui-long, felt that Taiwan society’s pursuit of economic development has led to a neglect of the importance of culture and art. They believed that it was necessary for those with aspirations to strengthen art education and promotion, and thus improve the cultural development of Taiwan. With this in mind, Mr. Andrew Chew invited professionals from the fields of business, the arts and law to jointly establish “Chew’s Culture Foundation.” Under the leadership of Mr. Ma Shui-long, “Spring Autumn Music” was subsequently founded, serving as a successful example of supporting creative works.
“Spring Autumn Music” is an organization for promoting classical music composition. It provides a stage for Taiwanese composers to showcase their works in the form of music composition. The organization holds the chamber music events Euterpe: Spring and Autumn in spring and autumn annually. Spring symbolizes vitality, vigor, and prosperity, while autumn represents maturity, abundance, and harvest. Therefore, the organization invites young composers under the age of 40 in the spring and composers over the age of 40 in the autumn. Excellent composers were invited to work on creating new pieces and display their delicate creative results. After years of effort, it has gained support and recognition from the cultural sector and audiences and in 1998, it was awarded the Special Honor of the 1st Wenxin Arts and Business Award from the Council of Cultural Affairs.
The support of the society, as well as the recognition of awards, made Mr. Andrew Chew feel the society’s desire for art and culture. Therefore, in addition to promoting music composition, he became involved in visual arts. Combining the demand for music performances and visual arts exhibitions, and with the mission of taking root in the community and commemorating his father, Hong-gah Chew, Mr. Andrew Chew founded the Hong-Gah Museum in 1999. Since then, it has provided countless creative artists with a space to showcase their works and has become a platform for artists and audiences to exchange ideas. It has also collaborated with various local institutions in Beitou to promote various types of projects that are both locally rooted and international in scope. With the efforts that Hong-Gah Museum invested in promoting community arts and culture, it won the Special Honor of the 8th Wenxin Arts and Business Award in 2006, the Artist Cultivation Award of the 11th Wenxin Arts and Business Award in 2013, the Creative Enterprise Award of the 13th Wenxin Arts and Business Award in 2017, and the Veteran Sponsor Award of the 14th Wenxin Arts and Business Award in 2019. After more than two decades of hard work and dedication, Hong-Gah Museum has walked side by side with artists and creatives, and by continuously expanding its services and serving more diverse audience groups, it has witnessed the writing of Taiwan’s contemporary art and cultural history.