John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, 1971, the center hosts many different genres of performance art, such as theater, dance, classical music, jazz, pop, psychedelic, and folk music. It is the official residence of the National Symphony Orchestra and the Washington National Opera.

Authorized by the National Cultural Center Act of 1958, which requires that its programming be sustained through private funds, the center represents a public–private partnership. Its activities include educational and outreach initiatives, almost entirely funded through ticket sales and gifts from individuals, corporations, and private foundations. The center receives annual federal funding to pay for building maintenance and operation.

The original building, designed by architect Edward Durell Stone, was constructed by Philadelphia contractor John McShain, and is administered as a bureau of the Smithsonian Institution. An earlier design proposal called for a more curvy, spaceship-inspired building similar to how the neighbouring Watergate complex appears today. An extension to the Durell Stone Building was designed by Steven Holl and opened in 2019.

In 1968, George London became the Kennedy Center's first executive director (often called "artistic director" by the press). In 1991, Lawrence Wilker took over the newly created position of president. In 2014, Deborah Rutter became its third president and the first woman to hold that post. In 2025, President Donald Trump was elected the center's chairman by staff he appointed upon firing the previous board members, including Rutter.