page_title: John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts / History
context_page_description: The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is a performing arts center in Washington, D.C. The Center opened on September 8, 1971. It shows theater, dance, ballet, orchestral, chamber, jazz, popular, and folk music performances.
  It is the busiest performing arts center in the United States of America. Each year, it hosts about 2,000 performances, and almost two million people watch one of these performances. The Center presents music, dance, and theater to the public; helps artists make new works and does arts education.
  The National Cultural Center Act of Congress in 1958 requires that its programming must be paid for through private money. The center is a public-private partnership. It mostly gets its money from ticket sales and gifts from individuals, corporations, and private foundations. It also gets federal funding each year to pay for the maintenance and operation of the building. It is both the nation's public memorial to President John F. Kennedy and the "national center for the performing arts."
  The building was designed by architect Edward Durell Stone, built by Philadelphia contractor John McShain, and is administered by a bureau of the Smithsonian Institution.
context_section_description: In 1933, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt first had the idea for the center. It was during the Great Depression, and she thought the government should provide jobs for unemployed actors. In 1935 and 1938, the United States Congress talked about making a building for it in Washington D.C., but the only thing they did was add a small auditorium to the Library of Congress.
  In 1950, Representative Arthur George Klein proposed a bill to build a cultural center. Congress debated the bill between 1955 and 1958. The  bill was passed in summer 1958 and President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed it into law on September 4, 1958.
  This was the first time that the federal government provided money for a structure dedicated to the performing arts. It cost a total of $70 million to build it. Congress gave most of the money, but donations from foundations, individuals, and businesses were also given.
caption: The Kennedy Center as seen from the air. A portion of the Watergate complex can be seen at the left
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