The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
In Tuesday’s (2/11) New York Times, Javier C. Hernández, Robin Pogrebin, Shawn McCreesh write, “President Trump announced in a post on social media Monday that he was appointing Richard Grenell as the ‘interim executive director’ of the Kennedy Center in Washington. Mr. Grenell … was Mr. Trump’s ambassador to Germany during the first Trump administration … The president wrote that Mr. Grenell ‘shares my Vision for a GOLDEN AGE of American Arts and Culture’ and would be overseeing ‘daily operations’ to ensure there was no more ‘ANTI-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA.’ … [On] Friday night … Trump announced his intent to gut the Kennedy Center’s board and install himself as chairman…. On Monday, 18 board members and the board chairman were removed from an official roster … The excised members were appointees of … Joseph R. Biden Jr. The board’s chairman, David M. Rubenstein, was also removed. Mr. Rubenstein, a financier who was initially appointed to the board by former President George W. Bush, has given $111 million to the center over the years … It was not immediately clear what Mr. Grenell’s placement meant for Deborah F. Rutter, the president of the Kennedy Center … The center oversees the Washington National Opera and the National Symphony Orchestra and also presents comedy, hip-hop, ballet and theater, staging some 2,000 performances each year.”
