You have likely heard a lot lately about the controversial renaming of the Kennedy Center. Yes, we are outraged that a sitting president and his board of sycophants would desecrate a slain president’s memorial by slapping his name on top. It is the equivalent of a vandal’s spray paint. BUT! This fight is much larger than whose name appears on the facade of the mid-century modern box on the Potomac.
The Kennedy Center has always been guided by the principles of John F Kennedy and the vision he articulated for the role the arts play in our civic life. The people and artistic communities within the Kennedy Center have defined it as the nation’s premier performing arts center for the past 54 years. No name affixed to the marble walls can alter that heritage. Letters can become unfixed, but the foundation of artistic communities is deeply rooted. NOW is our opportunity to unite as a community, learn how to support each other, and stand up against forces of authoritarianism that seek to divide us. Join us in our chorus of protest against the authoritarian interference with the arts in America. The Kennedy Center belongs to us!
Who are the people who make the Kennedy Center what it is?
Musicians, Artists, Technicians, Designers, Arts Administrators, Ushers, Volunteers, Audience members, and donors.
We form the fabric of the artistic community that shapes and strengthens the Kennedy Center. These communities are what is at stake as Trump, Grenell, and the KC Board take an axe to the Kennedy Center as an institution and stick its nose into free and independent artistic expression. It is past time that this administration take its hands off the arts and let artists be artists free of partisan rhetoric and propaganda.
Defending Our Institutions
There are many voices urging boycotts of the Kennedy Center in light of the recent “cosmetic” changes. We appreciate the anger and frustration behind these calls, but we deliberately choose to defend the institutions that are under attack rather than walk away. In On Tyranny, Timothy Snyder emphasizes the importance of defending institutions that authoritarian regimes target. It is our responsibility to protect and defend the institutions we value. This is our moment to stand up, raise our voices, and defend the artistic communities that make up the Kennedy Center.
Rather than throw our hands in the air and hand the Kennedy Center over to people who would rather see the arts sink into the Potomac, we chose to stand in solidarity with those inside the building who continue to artistically enrich our nation despite this administration’s best efforts to snuff out artistic expression.
The Fabric of our Civic Life
John F. Kennedy viewed the arts as central to a nation’s promise. He referred to art as a “test of the quality of a nation’s civilization,” a “form of truth, not propaganda,” and essential for fostering understanding and democracy. Art nourishes the soul and spirit, not just the body. Society must liberate artists to pursue their vision for cultural enrichment. JFK saw art as a powerful force for unity, stating it “calls forth creative genius from every sector of society, disregarding race or religion or wealth or color,” linking artistic freedom to national strength.
If art is a test of our nation’s civilization, we are in the throes of a fight for survival!
JFK’s Values are at Stake
62 years after JFK’s death, the man whose name straddles atop Kennedy’s on the facade of the building peddles partisan rhetoric, racism, and bigotry—pitting one ideological side of America against the other using “woke art” as a cudgel to divide rather than unite.
As artists and community members, we call out the failures of the newly appointed leadership at the Kennedy Center. They resort to propaganda and misinformation to obfuscate the destruction they are laying to the artistic and professional communities that have built the foundation for artistic excellence over 54 years. It is an artist’s job to speak where others are silent, make music where others make noise (and yes, sometimes dissonance amid harmony), and move where others are frozen by inertia.
We here, at Pack the House Purple, raise our voices in protest, move our bodies against a sea of inertia, and unite in a symphony of artistic resistance. Our creative energy fuels the country’s cultural enrichment.
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