Zhi Zhu 🕸️
@ZhiZhu@newsie.social  ·  activity timestamp 2 days ago
Zhi Zhu 🕸️
@ZhiZhu@newsie.social  ·  activity timestamp 2 days ago
Heading and text from article: ‘Memorials Are to Dead People’ She began in the Hall of Nations, a red-carpeted entry hall festooned with flags from around the world. Energetic and assertive, with a near constant smile, Ms. Weiswasser wore her tour guide credentials on a University of Michigan lanyard (her alma mater) that was hung with a pair of silver opera glasses, a gift from a granddaughter. The center’s story, she said, began with President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who in 1958 signed legislation to establish a performing arts center in Washington. President John F. Kennedy championed the cause, and after his assassination Congress passed a bipartisan bill dedicating the institution to him. “That’s how it got its name,” Ms. Weiswasser said, adding pointedly, “This is a memorial. Memorials are to dead people.” She did not mention Mr. Trump, whose board members in December had his name added to the front of the building to make it the “Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.” It was removed under court order last month. As the building took shape in the 1960s, she said, more than 60 nations contributed furnishings and art. Italy’s gift was the largest: 3,700 tons of Carrara marble that sheaths the center’s facade and interior walls, from the same region as the marble for Michelangelo’s David.
Heading and text from article: ‘Memorials Are to Dead People’ She began in the Hall of Nations, a red-carpeted entry hall festooned with flags from around the world. Energetic and assertive, with a near constant smile, Ms. Weiswasser wore her tour guide credentials on a University of Michigan lanyard (her alma mater) that was hung with a pair of silver opera glasses, a gift from a granddaughter. The center’s story, she said, began with President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who in 1958 signed legislation to establish a performing arts center in Washington. President John F. Kennedy championed the cause, and after his assassination Congress passed a bipartisan bill dedicating the institution to him. “That’s how it got its name,” Ms. Weiswasser said, adding pointedly, “This is a memorial. Memorials are to dead people.” She did not mention Mr. Trump, whose board members in December had his name added to the front of the building to make it the “Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.” It was removed under court order last month. As the building took shape in the 1960s, she said, more than 60 nations contributed furnishings and art. Italy’s gift was the largest: 3,700 tons of Carrara marble that sheaths the center’s facade and interior walls, from the same region as the marble for Michelangelo’s David.
Heading and text from article: ‘Memorials Are to Dead People’ She began in the Hall of Nations, a red-carpeted entry hall festooned with flags from around the world. Energetic and assertive, with a near constant smile, Ms. Weiswasser wore her tour guide credentials on a University of Michigan lanyard (her alma mater) that was hung with a pair of silver opera glasses, a gift from a granddaughter. The center’s story, she said, began with President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who in 1958 signed legislation to establish a performing arts center in Washington. President John F. Kennedy championed the cause, and after his assassination Congress passed a bipartisan bill dedicating the institution to him. “That’s how it got its name,” Ms. Weiswasser said, adding pointedly, “This is a memorial. Memorials are to dead people.” She did not mention Mr. Trump, whose board members in December had his name added to the front of the building to make it the “Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.” It was removed under court order last month. As the building took shape in the 1960s, she said, more than 60 nations contributed furnishings and art. Italy’s gift was the largest: 3,700 tons of Carrara marble that sheaths the center’s facade and interior walls, from the same region as the marble for Michelangelo’s David.
Zhi Zhu 🕸️
@ZhiZhu@newsie.social  ·  activity timestamp 2 days ago
Text from article: Sandy Weiswasser, 87, a retired teacher and volunteer who has been guiding visitors through the center for 18 years, was profiled in a Times article on the center, published on Monday. “This place used to be really thriving and busy and crowded,” Ms. Weiswasser was quoted as saying. “Now it’s a black hole.” Reached on Thursday, she declined to comment. Last year, Mr. Trump removed the Kennedy Center’s leadership, cut its programming and installed a handpicked board that had his name drilled into the building front. A court ordered the name removed last month. Audiences, performers and visitors have fled from the center, which has lost about 90 percent of its staff and, for now, 100 percent of its paying audience.
Text from article: Sandy Weiswasser, 87, a retired teacher and volunteer who has been guiding visitors through the center for 18 years, was profiled in a Times article on the center, published on Monday. “This place used to be really thriving and busy and crowded,” Ms. Weiswasser was quoted as saying. “Now it’s a black hole.” Reached on Thursday, she declined to comment. Last year, Mr. Trump removed the Kennedy Center’s leadership, cut its programming and installed a handpicked board that had his name drilled into the building front. A court ordered the name removed last month. Audiences, performers and visitors have fled from the center, which has lost about 90 percent of its staff and, for now, 100 percent of its paying audience.
Text from article: Sandy Weiswasser, 87, a retired teacher and volunteer who has been guiding visitors through the center for 18 years, was profiled in a Times article on the center, published on Monday. “This place used to be really thriving and busy and crowded,” Ms. Weiswasser was quoted as saying. “Now it’s a black hole.” Reached on Thursday, she declined to comment. Last year, Mr. Trump removed the Kennedy Center’s leadership, cut its programming and installed a handpicked board that had his name drilled into the building front. A court ordered the name removed last month. Audiences, performers and visitors have fled from the center, which has lost about 90 percent of its staff and, for now, 100 percent of its paying audience.
Zhi Zhu 🕸️
@ZhiZhu@newsie.social  ·  activity timestamp 2 days ago
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Zhi Zhu 🕸️
@ZhiZhu@newsie.social  ·  activity timestamp 2 days ago
Headline and photo with caption. Headline: Kennedy Center Halts Free Public Tours After Five Decades of Service The decision to suspend tours came after a volunteer tour guide was featured in a Times article detailing President Trump’s dramatic revamp of the Kennedy Center. Photo: The front of the Kennedy Center. The signage is still covered by blue and white tarps so that no one can see that Trump's name has been removed. Caption: The Kennedy Center in Washington in June. It has now ended free public tours of the facility.Credit...Jared Soares for The New York Times
Headline and photo with caption. Headline: Kennedy Center Halts Free Public Tours After Five Decades of Service The decision to suspend tours came after a volunteer tour guide was featured in a Times article detailing President Trump’s dramatic revamp of the Kennedy Center. Photo: The front of the Kennedy Center. The signage is still covered by blue and white tarps so that no one can see that Trump's name has been removed. Caption: The Kennedy Center in Washington in June. It has now ended free public tours of the facility.Credit...Jared Soares for The New York Times
Headline and photo with caption. Headline: Kennedy Center Halts Free Public Tours After Five Decades of Service The decision to suspend tours came after a volunteer tour guide was featured in a Times article detailing President Trump’s dramatic revamp of the Kennedy Center. Photo: The front of the Kennedy Center. The signage is still covered by blue and white tarps so that no one can see that Trump's name has been removed. Caption: The Kennedy Center in Washington in June. It has now ended free public tours of the facility.Credit...Jared Soares for The New York Times
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