UPDATE: per a Kennedy Center statement: “The Kennedy Center leases a large volume of pianos from David Slan’s franchise of Steinway and Sons out of northern Virginia, which is closing down and being absorbed by Steinway corporate in New York by the end of the year. Because of that, our lease terms are coming to an end, and the Center {…}
The Kennedy Center drama continued on Thursday Sept. 17 after a federal judge ruled that the Trump administration had to provide 30 days’ notice of any changes in the Kennedy Center’s renovation plans. Judge Cooper said that any changes, “including but not limited to any ‘demolition’ of the Center’s main building” would have to be notified to him. The ruling {…}
Donald Trump is now threatening to rip down the Kennedy Center if his name is not added to the building. The President told the press, before boarding Air Force One, that “For me to go and fix it and subsidize it, I think the Trump Administration should have recognition. If we don’t do that, it’s going to close and get {…}
The board of the Kennedy Center has voted to officially shut down the performing arts institution. The vote came shortly after a federal judge in Washington rejected the board’s effort to add Trump’s name to the building and after Trump said on social media that renovations wouldn’t happen unless his name was added to the building. It also happened after {…}
President Donald J. Trump has announced, via Truth Social, that The Kennedy Center will be closed. Per the President’s weaving statement, the building will be closed for “safety reasons, and so that it can begin the process of Reconstruction. The closing will take place immediately. The President noted that “the Renovation and Reconstruction, which is a very large and complex {…}
A federal court has ruled that President Donald Trump cannot put his name on the Kennedy Center. Judge Christopher Cooper of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled on Sept. 15 that the board of the Kennedy Center cannot put Trump’s name in other places on the building and its grounds. In his decision Cooper said, “Simply put, {…}
The Kennedy Center leadership group is warning it could go bankrupt and would be forced to close on Sept. 15. According to documents obtained by The Washington Post and The New York Times, the Kennedy Center’s current leadership argued that the institution faces “certain fiscal collapse” unless the president’s name is added back to its facade. The warning appeared in {…}
Hands Off the Arts is set to protest on Sept. 18, 2026. The organization will lead a joyful gathering centered on uplifting the Kennedy Center, the staff, and all the artists past, present and future who have graced her stages. The organization has been using its platform to criticize the current Trump loyalist administration and stated, that it has “failed {…}
A portion of the Kennedy Center’s Grand Foyer collapsed after a storm. The Kennedy Center’s official social media announced the news stating, “Another warning we can’t ignore. A section of the Grand Foyer ceiling collapsed after this week’s storms. Thankfully no one was hurt. Decades of deferred maintenance made this inevitable. Chairman President Trump has been right: America’s cultural center {…}
The board of the Kennedy Center will have to delay inscribing Trump’s name on the performing arts building. In a hearing on Thursday, August 27, District Judge Christopher Cooper questioned the board’s insistence on adding Trump’s name as soon as Sept. 8 and described the date as arbitrary. The hearing also saw Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick speak to the press {…}
The Trump administration is threatening to demolish the Kennedy Center. In a court filing the Justice Department attorney Brantley T. Mayers wrote that if the center isn’t allowed to follow its plans for renovation, including adding President Donald Trump’s name back to the building, the center will be taken down. He added, “Without those efforts, the Center will deteriorate further {…}
