Page 32 - ARUBA TODAY

A32 FEATURE
Friday 19 May 2017
‘Living memorial’: Putting Kennedy back into Kennedy Center

BEN NUCKOLS “It will be deeply meaning-
Associated Press ful,” Ma told The Associat-
WASHINGTON (AP) — Trivia ed Press. “He was my presi-
question: Where is the me- dent when I arrived in this
morial to President John F. country, and so I embrace
Kennedy in Washington? the ideals that he promot-
If you said the Kennedy ed.”
Center — not just the On May 29, the center
bronze bust of Kennedy in- will host a “JFK Centen-
side but the entire building nial Celebration” with per-
and all that happens there formers including soprano
— you’d be correct. You’d Renee Fleming, actor Finn
also be better-informed Whitrock and the New
than most Washingtonians. York City Ballet’s principal
This year, in honor of the dancers.
100th anniversary of JFK’s Rutter also wants to make
birth, leaders of the per- the Kennedy Center more
forming arts behemoth are appealing to visitors. The
trying to put the Kennedy center was recently add-
back into the Kennedy ed to the itinerary for Big
Center. They are reem- Bus, one of the companies
phasizing its role as a “living that shuttles tourists around
memorial” to the slain 35th must-see Washington des-
president. tinations.
“Most people, even the The $120 million expansion
people who’ve lived in this Kennedy Center President Deborah Rutter at the Kennedy Center in Washington, Friday, May 5, project, with three new pa-
city all their lives, not all of 2017. vilions by architect Steven
that group understand that Associated Press Holl, will make room for
it’s a memorial,” Kennedy Congress renamed it the cal point of Washington’s Schlossberg wrote. “He more diverse arts and edu-
Center president Deborah John F. Kennedy Center cultural life. And over the was a great supporter of cational programming. The
Rutter said in an interview. for the Performing Arts and years, the Kennedy con- the liberties of both, which new construction, the first
“It doesn’t necessarily click designated it as a memo- nection became less im- inspires me today as we since the center opened,
for people that a perform- rial two months after Ken- portant than the Broadway must rise to support the in- is also intended to make
ing arts center would be a nedy’s death. His succes- musicals, opera, dance dependent voices of dis- the famously foreboding
memorial to a president.” sor, President Lyndon B. and music it hosted every sent in our country.” building more pedestrian-
After Kennedy’s 1963 assas- Johnson, broke ground at day, along with major cul- In recent months, the friendly.
sination, turning the center the site along the Potomac tural events like the Ken- center has been hosting A selection of photos of
nedy Center Honors. performances reflecting Kennedy affixed to a wall
Besides the bust in the five ideals from Kennedy: in the Hall of States last
grand foyer, the Kennedy courage, freedom, jus- year also has been a hit.
Center has inscriptions of tice, service and gratitude. It’s one of the first things
Kennedy’s statements on With the centennial ap- school groups see when
the outer wall facing the proaching, there will be they tour the center. The
Potomac River. Rutter said a series of performances, photos were meant to be
there are plans to attach including a National Sym- temporary.
more quotations to new
buildings in the center’s
expansion, set to be com-
pleted next year.
There also have been dis-
cussions about replacing
a dated touch-screen dis-
play about Kennedy with a
permanent exhibition hon-
oring him, although noth-
ing has been announced.
Kennedy Center President Deborah Rutter, left, and Internation- “We used to be about sell-
ally renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma, right, pose for a photo at the ing a show,” Rutter said.
Kennedy Center in Washington, Friday, May 5, 2017. “Now we’re about telling
Associated Press
the story of the full identity
into a memorial made per- River using the same gold- of the Kennedy Center.”
fect sense. Kennedy, who plated spade used to Kennedy spoke eloquently
served at the height of the launch construction of the about the arts and their
Cold War and pushed the Lincoln Memorial and the capacity for truth-telling. Kennedy Center President Deborah Rutter at the Kennedy Cen-
U.S. space program for- Jefferson Memorial. In an emailed statement, ter in Washington, Friday, May 5, 2017. Associated Press
ward with his bold pledge The center opened in 1971 his granddaughter, Rose
to put a man on the moon, with a requiem Mass in Ken- Kennedy Schlossberg, said phony Orchestra concert “I said, ‘If you take them
was also a strong advo- nedy’s honor, composed she “can’t think of a better honoring JFK’s legacy and down, I’ll kill you,’” Rut-
cate for the arts. He ac- by Leonard Bernstein. memorial” than a place headlined by cellist Yo-Yo ter said. “Just those pic-
tively raised money for the With its cavernous concert where people experi- Ma, who first gained fame tures alone, which is vinyl
center, which initially was hall, opera house and mul- ence art together. when he played for Kenne- adhered to the marble, is
to have been called the tiple stages, the building “He did not fear criticism dy at age 7 at a fundraiser changing what it feels like
National Cultural Center. quickly became the fo- from media or the arts,” for the future center. to be here.”q