John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is a cultural center located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. It is considered the national cultural center of the United States, serving as a "living memorial" to John F. Kennedy. The center opened on September 8, 1971, and hosts many genres of performance art, spanning theater, ballet, modern dance, classical music, jazz, pop, psychedelic, and folk music. The Kennedy Center is the residence of the National Symphony Orchestra. Authorized by the National Cultural Center Act of 1958, which requires that its programming be sustained through private funds, the center represents a public–private partnership. Its activities include educational and outreach initiatives, almost entirely funded through ticket sales and gifts from individuals, corporations, and private foundations. The center receives annual federal funding to cover building maintenance and operations. The original building, designed by Edward Durell Stone, is administered as a bureau of the Smithsonian Institution. An extension designed by Steven Holl opened in 2019. In 1968, George London became the Kennedy Center's first executive director. In 1991, Lawrence Wilker became its first president. In 2014, Deborah Rutter became its third president and the first woman to hold the post. In 2025, President Donald Trump dismissed the center's trustees and replaced them with people who elected him chairman and voted to add his name to the center, a move later determined to be illegal. Consequently, ticket sales declined, dozens of performances were canceled, and the Washington National Opera ended its half-century of residence. In February 2026, Trump said that the center would close in July for two years of renovations. In May 2026, U.S. district judge Christopher R. "Casey" Cooper blocked the Kennedy Center from closing during its renovations and ordered that Trump's name be removed from the building, which occurred on June 13, 2026. In September 2026, Trump threatened to demolish the building unless his name was returned to the facade.