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John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts: Difference between revisions
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (view source)
Revision as of 00:54, 26 January 2025
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The idea for a national cultural center dates to 1933 when [[First Lady of the United States|First Lady]] [[Eleanor Roosevelt]] discussed ideas for the [[Federal Emergency Relief Administration|Emergency Relief and Civil Works Administration]] to create employment for [[unemployment|unemployed]] actors during the [[Great Depression]].<ref name="meersman-p527">{{cite journal |last=Meersman |first=Roger |title=The Kennedy Center: From Dream to Reality |journal=Records of the Columbia Historical Society |year=1980 |volume=50 |pages=527–528}}</ref> [[United States Congress|Congress]] held [[congressional hearing|hearings]] in 1935 on plans to establish a [[Cabinet of the United States|Cabinet level]] Department of Science, Art and Literature, and to build a monumental theater and arts building on [[Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C.|Capitol Hill]] near the [[United States Supreme Court|Supreme Court]] building. A 1938 congressional resolution called for construction of a "public building which shall be known as the '''National Cultural Center'''" near [[Judiciary Square]], but nothing materialized.<ref name="meersman-p527"/> | The idea for a national cultural center dates to 1933 when [[First Lady of the United States|First Lady]] [[Eleanor Roosevelt]] discussed ideas for the [[Federal Emergency Relief Administration|Emergency Relief and Civil Works Administration]] to create employment for [[unemployment|unemployed]] actors during the [[Great Depression]].<ref name="meersman-p527">{{cite journal |last=Meersman |first=Roger |title=The Kennedy Center: From Dream to Reality |journal=Records of the Columbia Historical Society |year=1980 |volume=50 |pages=527–528}}</ref> [[United States Congress|Congress]] held [[congressional hearing|hearings]] in 1935 on plans to establish a [[Cabinet of the United States|Cabinet level]] Department of Science, Art and Literature, and to build a monumental theater and arts building on [[Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C.|Capitol Hill]] near the [[United States Supreme Court|Supreme Court]] building. A 1938 congressional resolution called for construction of a "public building which shall be known as the '''National Cultural Center'''" near [[Judiciary Square]], but nothing materialized.<ref name="meersman-p527"/> | ||
The idea for a national theater resurfaced in 1950, when [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. Representative]] [[Arthur George Klein]] of New York introduced a bill to authorize funds to plan and build a cultural center. The bill included provisions that the center would prohibit any discrimination of cast or audience. In 1955, the [[SRI International|Stanford Research Institute]] was commissioned to select a site and provide design suggestions for the center.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.sri.com/about/timeline/timeline1.html| title=Timeline of SRI International Innovations: 1940s – 1950s| website=[[SRI International]]| access-date=July 1, 2012| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061129224242/http://www.sri.com/about/timeline/timeline1.html| archive-date=November 29, 2006| df=mdy-all}}</ref> From 1955 to 1958, Congress debated the idea amid much controversy. A bill was finally passed in Congress in the summer of 1958 and on September 4, President | The idea for a national theater resurfaced in 1950, when [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. Representative]] [[Arthur George Klein]] of New York introduced a bill to authorize funds to plan and build a cultural center. The bill included provisions that the center would prohibit any discrimination of cast or audience. In 1955, the [[SRI International|Stanford Research Institute]] was commissioned to select a site and provide design suggestions for the center.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.sri.com/about/timeline/timeline1.html| title=Timeline of SRI International Innovations: 1940s – 1950s| website=[[SRI International]]| access-date=July 1, 2012| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061129224242/http://www.sri.com/about/timeline/timeline1.html| archive-date=November 29, 2006| df=mdy-all}}</ref> From 1955 to 1958, Congress debated the idea amid much controversy. A bill was finally passed in Congress in the summer of 1958 and on September 4, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed into law the National Cultural Center Act which provided momentum for the project.<ref name="meersman-p529">{{cite journal |last=Meersman |first=Roger |title=The Kennedy Center: From Dream to Reality |journal=Records of the Columbia Historical Society |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40067836 |year=1980 |volume=50 |page=529 |jstor=40067836 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> | ||
This was the first time that the [[Federal government of the United States|federal government]] helped finance a structure dedicated to the performing arts. The legislation required a portion of the costs, estimated at $10–25 million, to be raised within five years of the bill's passage.<ref name="meersman-p541">{{cite journal |last=Meersman |first=Roger |title=The Kennedy Center: From Dream to Reality |journal=Records of the Columbia Historical Society |year=1980 |volume=50 |page=541}}</ref> Edward Durell Stone was selected as architect for the project in June 1959.<ref name="meersman-p542">{{cite journal |last=Meersman |first=Roger |title=The Kennedy Center: From Dream to Reality |journal=Records of the Columbia Historical Society |year=1980 |volume=50 |page=542}}</ref> He presented preliminary designs to the President's Music Committee in October 1959, along with estimated costs of $50 million, double the original estimates of $25–30 million. By November 1959, estimated costs had escalated to $61 million.<ref name="meersman-p543">{{cite journal |last=Meersman |first=Roger |title=The Kennedy Center: From Dream to Reality |journal=Records of the Columbia Historical Society |year=1980 |volume=50 |page=543}}</ref> Despite this, Stone's design was well received in editorials in ''[[The Washington Post]]'', ''[[Washington Star]]'', and quickly approved by the [[United States Commission of Fine Arts]], [[National Capital Planning Commission]], and the [[National Park Service]].<ref name="meersman-p544">{{cite journal |last=Meersman |first=Roger |title=The Kennedy Center: From Dream to Reality |journal=Records of the Columbia Historical Society |year=1980 |volume=50 |page=544}}</ref> | This was the first time that the [[Federal government of the United States|federal government]] helped finance a structure dedicated to the performing arts. The legislation required a portion of the costs, estimated at $10–25 million, to be raised within five years of the bill's passage.<ref name="meersman-p541">{{cite journal |last=Meersman |first=Roger |title=The Kennedy Center: From Dream to Reality |journal=Records of the Columbia Historical Society |year=1980 |volume=50 |page=541}}</ref> Edward Durell Stone was selected as architect for the project in June 1959.<ref name="meersman-p542">{{cite journal |last=Meersman |first=Roger |title=The Kennedy Center: From Dream to Reality |journal=Records of the Columbia Historical Society |year=1980 |volume=50 |page=542}}</ref> He presented preliminary designs to the President's Music Committee in October 1959, along with estimated costs of $50 million, double the original estimates of $25–30 million. By November 1959, estimated costs had escalated to $61 million.<ref name="meersman-p543">{{cite journal |last=Meersman |first=Roger |title=The Kennedy Center: From Dream to Reality |journal=Records of the Columbia Historical Society |year=1980 |volume=50 |page=543}}</ref> Despite this, Stone's design was well received in editorials in ''[[The Washington Post]]'', ''[[Washington Star]]'', and quickly approved by the [[United States Commission of Fine Arts]], [[National Capital Planning Commission]], and the [[National Park Service]].<ref name="meersman-p544">{{cite journal |last=Meersman |first=Roger |title=The Kennedy Center: From Dream to Reality |journal=Records of the Columbia Historical Society |year=1980 |volume=50 |page=544}}</ref> | ||
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===Eisenhower Theater=== | ===Eisenhower Theater=== | ||
The Eisenhower Theater, on the north side, seats about 1,161<ref name=":0" /> and is named for President | The Eisenhower Theater, on the north side, seats about 1,161<ref name=":0" /> and is named for President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who signed the National Cultural Center Act into law on September 2, 1958. It primarily hosts plays and musicals, smaller-scale operas, ballet, and contemporary dance. The theater contains an orchestra pit for up to 35 musicians that is convertible to a forestage or additional seating space. The venue reopened in October 2008, following a 16-month renovation which altered the color scheme and seating arrangements. | ||
===Other performance venues=== | ===Other performance venues=== | ||