SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
And we're standing just outside of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., renamed the Trump Kennedy Center by President Trump, who says the center will close after July 4 this summer for two years of reconstruction. This comes after a tumultuous year of canceled performances, fired staff, the Washington National Opera and The Washington Ballet moving out. Deborah Rutter was president of the Kennedy Center for 10 years under President Obama, the first Trump term in the White House and then President Biden. She left office within a month of President Trump's second inauguration after he installed new leadership and joins us here. Thanks so much for being with us.
DEBORAH RUTTER: I'm pleased to be with you.
SIMON: Remind us why this place was created, I mean, initially, during the Eisenhower administration.
RUTTER: General Eisenhower believed that this country needed to have a national cultural center to represent our country through its culture to the rest of the world. Then John F. Kennedy and his wife, when they were in the White House, were raising money together to build a national cultural center. After President Kennedy was assassinated, Mrs. Kennedy and the family were asked, how would you like to remember President Kennedy? And she said, with a living memorial, to make the national cultural center a living memorial.
SIMON: With bipartisan support.
RUTTER: Absolutely, 100%.
SIMON: President Trump says the place is falling down. Is it?
RUTTER: This is a 51, nearly 52-year-old building. It is beautifully maintained with the funding that we receive annually through an appropriation from the federal government. It does have deferred maintenance. In fact, we have had a very, very significant list of projects that we needed to undertake, but the funding that came from the federal government was limited to about 45 per year.
SIMON: Attendance, as I don't have to tell you, fell off after President Trump took office and changed the leadership. Prominent performers and shows canceled, saying they couldn't work with the current administration, didn't want to. Looking back, was that kind of boycott a mistake? Did it give the administration the argument to say, well, nobody's going, attendance is off, so we might as well close it and refashion it?
RUTTER: So I actually don't have firsthand information about attendance after my departure. What I have been thinking about and saying is that for artists to do their work, they must feel complete freedom, safety and support. When an artist walks on a stage, they have to rip open their hearts, be as vulnerable as possible. And in order to do that, they have to feel safe. They have to be supported. And to the audience members, I say, follow the artist. You are the individual who has that personal taste, who has that interest, who is moved by that particular art form. Always follow the artist.
SIMON: So if the artist decides to cancel...
RUTTER: Support the artist.
SIMON: What are some of the effects of this place being closed for two years? You're a professional in this world. What could happen?
RUTTER: As I look at this building, I'm filled with extraordinary memories. And probably the most extraordinary are the ones when I walk into a theater and I sit down and I look around and like, wow, there are a lot of people here. Who are these people? And then we all share something really, really special. I'm sad about those lost experiences. And that said, if they can do the complicated work of seat replacement and HVAC and the water pump, fantastic. I hope they can do that, and I hope they can do it effectively so that those issues don't rise up again.
SIMON: Do you have any concerns about this place reopening?
RUTTER: No. I think that it will be a grand reopening. I really believe that. This place is too important in this country. This place has hosted so many important moments on a personal, individual and countrywide level. And I know it will be a grand reopening.
SIMON: There's so many words all around this building that are chiseled into the stone. Any that are particularly important to you?
RUTTER: I'm not sure I have any quotes of any other president that I have been familiar with except for those of John F. Kennedy. He certainly was magnificent with words. But the one that means the most to me is the one that says, I am certain that after the dust of centuries has passed over our cities...
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
JOHN F KENNEDY: And I am certain that after the dust of centuries has passed over our cities, we, too, will be remembered not for victories or defeats in battle or in politics, but for our contribution to the human spirit.
RUTTER: ...But for our contribution to the human spirit. That was our daily motivation.
SIMON: Deborah Rutter, who was president at the Kennedy Center for a decade, from 2014 until 2025, thanks so much for joining us here.
RUTTER: Thank you for being with me here. And I know you were in that building very, very many times, at least in my time.
SIMON: Absolutely. Yes. And (laughter) our children learned how to bicycle...
RUTTER: (Laughter).
SIMON: ...Here, which I think might be technically against the rules...
RUTTER: I...
SIMON: ...But the security people were always very nice.
RUTTER: I think our security have always been the best.
SIMON: Yeah.
RUTTER: And very understanding.
SIMON: And our dog has - let's just put it this way - anointed several spots.
RUTTER: (Laughter).
SIMON: I'm sorry about that, but you know dogs.
RUTTER: I think that makes this even more the people's house.
SIMON: (Laughter). Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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