More artists have canceled their concerts at the Kennedy Center—including a New Year’s Eve show by a veteran jazz ensemble—following its board's vote to add Donald Trump’s name to the performing arts center two weeks ago.
Some quick background, in case you've missed it in the flurry of bad: This is a Trump-orchestrated renaming, which started earlier this year when the president fired board members appointed by previous administrations. He created a board dominated by loyal followers and became its new chair this past February. Trump and other key members of his administration now face a lawsuit, based on the fact that Congress designated the Kennedy Center as a memorial to the late President Kennedy, and thus, changing the name requires an act of Congress.
Many of the artists who have now pulled out of their performances had strong words for Trump’s takeover. The Cookers, the ensemble who called off their New Year’s Eve concert, suggested that the move contradicted what jazz means to them—“born from struggle and from a relentless insistence on freedom: freedom of thought, of expression, and of the full human voice.”
To put it lightly, the Trump administration is furious. The Kennedy Center’s interim president, Richard Grenell, tweeted, “Boycotting the Arts to show you support the Arts is a form of derangement syndrome.” And as my colleague Katie Herchenroeder reported over the weekend, he also threatened to file a lawsuit against another musician who canceled, claiming the “political stunt” gave in to “the sad bullying tactics employed by certain elements on the left, who have sought to intimidate artists into boycotting performances.”
But for me, any "political stunt" here comes directly from the Trump administration, which, as Mother Jones’ Ted Genoways wrote back at the beginning of Trump’s first term, aimed to cut federal art funding “to move the nation toward fiscal responsibility.” It's all so demoralizing. I believe funding of the arts is essential, especially “in these times,” which require creativity, passion, and connections to our wider culture and community.
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—Alex Nguyen
