If you have ever been struck by the Kennedy Center’s scale and grandeur;

Been moved by a performance in the Center’s stunning performance halls;

Created memories with loved ones over intermission champagne on the Plaza;

Graced the Center’s stages as an artist;

Worked at the Center as a staff member, union member, or volunteer;

Or if you want to preserve these iconic experiences for our community, Hands Off the Arts invites you to join Hands Around the Kennedy Center on Friday, July 17 at 6:30pm.

Tara Hoot and Hands Off the Arts will lead this joyful gathering centered on uplifting the Kennedy Center, her staff, and all the artists past, present and future who have graced her stages. This nostalgia-inspired community action allows those of us who love the Kennedy Center to celebrate the Center’s past and envision its future.

The Board of Trustees’, under the chairman’s leadership, have failed in their duty to the institution. The Center, a formerly dynamic and lively arts hub, sits nearly dormant. The impact is felt beyond the empty stages – as a top provider of arts education across the country, the impact of the Board’s mismanagement will be felt in communities nationwide. In our local communities, the livelihoods of local artists and staff members remain under threat. This is not the Kennedy Center you know and love. It’s not the Kennedy Center you deserve.

We know what the Kennedy Center is meant to be, and can be again – the nation’s cultural center, active with life, joy, and incredible art. As John F. Kennedy said, “The life of the arts, far from being an interruption, a distraction, in the life of a nation, is very close to the center of a nation's purpose.” You deserve a Kennedy Center that celebrates and uplifts these ideals in its halls and on its stages.

With the future still very much uncertain, now more than ever, the Center needs you to stand up for freedom of expression and against authoritarian overreach into arts and culture institutions. You have the opportunity to make a difference - show up with Hands Off the Arts and show your power as a part of Hands Around the Kennedy Center.