Artistic

The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts

The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts serves two purposes in Washington: to honor the memory of President Kennedy and to promote the arts--music, dance, theater, opera--in our nation.

The Kennedy Center was a long time in the making. Here's a timeline:

1933 -- First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt discusses ideas for the creation of jobs for unemployed actors during the Depression.
1935 -- Congress holds hearings regarding plans to establish a Department of Science, Art and Literature and whether to build a theater and arts building near the Capitol.
1938 -- A Congressional resolution calls for the building of a "National Cultural Center." Nothing happens, though.
1950 -- A bill is introduced in Congress to authorize funds for planning and building a cultural center as a memorial to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The bill requires that the center will prohibit discrimination of cast or audience.
1955 - 1958 -- The idea of a cultural center is fiercely debated in Congress with no resolution.
1958 -- Congress finally passes the bill and President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs it into law.
1959 -- Fundraising for the center is slow and after three years, less than $14,000 in private funds have been raised. That same year, President John F. Kennedy appoints Roger Stevens to head up the development of the National Cultural Center. He, in turn, recruits First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and former First Lady Mamie Eisenhower as co-chairs.
1963 -- President Kennedy is assassinated.
1964 -- The National Cultural Center is renamed The Kennedy Center. Ground is finally broken in December of that year and construction begins.
1971 -- The Kennedy Center opens with a premiere of Leonard Bernstein's MASS--a piece commissioned by Mrs. Kennedy.

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 1/08
Timeline source: Wikipedia

Cultural

The Kennedy Center at sunrise

Hugging the banks of the Potomac River is the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Commissioned by President Eisenhower long before Mr. Kennedy was president, the center didn't really get off the ground until after President Kennedy's assassination in 1963. Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy (the latter especially) were great patrons of the arts and were among the first presidential couples to bring artists and musicians into the White House as entertainment. This center for the arts honors President Kennedy specifically, but is also seen as paying homage to Mrs. Kennedy-Onassis as well.

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential

Flaming

Fall leaves

A couple of weeks ago, when I took all those pictures of the Lincoln Memorial, I stopped at Thompson's Boat Center first hoping to get a foggy picture of Foggy Bottom. Instead, I snapped this.

Happy NaBloPoMo folks! I'm hoping to post a picture-a-day this month. It likely won't include all the information and tidbits, per the norm, but hopefully the photos will be fun!

Juxtaposition

The Watergate and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Located on the edge of the Potomac and just south of Georgetown is the Watergate Hotel and Condominiums (on the left) and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (on the right.) The Watergate was the location of a break-in on June 17, 1972 by operatives of then-President Richard M. Nixon into the offices of the Democratic National Committee. The break-in became the spark that lit the fuse that blew open the Nixon White House and resulted in Nixon resigning. This week, the Nixon Presidential Library in San Clemente, California, was handed over to the National Archives and it has been announced that information regarding Watergate will be updated and corrected to present it not as "a coup" but as a breach of executive privilege. (In light of today's arguments from the Bush-Cheney White House re: executive privilege, Nixon's pratfalls seem benign in comparison.)

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is the premier center for arts and culture in Washington, D.C. President and Mrs. Kennedy were great patrons of the arts and President Kennedy was an ardent supporter of the establishment of the Center. The origins of the Kennedy Center actually precede President Kennedy, though. In 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a bill authorizing the creation of a National Cultural Center. It was only after President Kennedy's assassination in 1963 that construction was accelerated and the center was named in his honor. Patrons and visitors of the Center can enjoy concerts by the National Symphony Orchestra, opera, plays, contemporary concerts, readings, and much more.

Zip: 20566

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential (Janet M. Kincaid, 07/07)