Warner Statement on Kennedy Center Board Meeting

WASHINGTON - U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), ex officio member of the Board of Trustees of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, released the following statement on today's board meeting:

"The John F. Kennedy Center is a national monument, and one of the country's premier arts and cultural institutions. Established by Congress as a National Cultural Center in 1958 and re-named in 1964, the Center has always had an important relationship with Congress, as Congress funds operations and maintenance and capital repair and restoration for the building.

"Unfortunately, recent actions by the president and certain board members have treated the Center like a personal vanity project, including firing career management staff, removing trustees, and sidelining ex officio members who are meant to provide congressional oversight by failing to share information and plans, and, in one specific case, muting a member who chose to speak up at a board meeting.

"This is not how a national cultural institution should be run. I urge the new leadership to restore transparency, fully engage bipartisan trustees, and provide Congress with the true reasons for a planned two-year closure and renovation, rather than turning the Kennedy Center into a platform for personal glorification."

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