On the eve of April 10, 2025, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts underwent a patriotic transformation.
Under the leadership of newly appointed President Richard Grenell, the iconic Washington, D.C., landmark made a bold and lasting statement: from now on, the building’s exterior lighting will shine every night with the vibrant and meaningful colors of red, white, and blue to honor the United States of America.
“The lights are a beautiful reminder of the American spirit,” Roma Daravi, Vice President of Public Relations at the Kennedy Center, told The Daily Wire. “The red, white, and blue colors are a powerful symbol of unity and our nation’s commitment to bringing people together. What better place for that than at the Kennedy Center, America’s institution for the Arts.”
Over the past several years, the Kennedy Center has taken on multiple different appearances.
The first big change happened in 2013 when the building was temporarily lit with colorful hues to celebrate a Nordic Festival’s “Northern Lights” exhibit. Then, in 2017, the Center started utilizing rainbow lighting annually during the Kennedy Center Honors. The Kennedy Center was lit yellow and blue in support of Ukraine back in 2022. It was also lit with purple and amber lights for the Women’s Suffrage Centennial back in August of 2020.
Grenell choosing to light the building red, white, and blue every night going forward represents a permanent, year-round tribute to American values, his team explains. In contrast to landmarks like the Empire State Building, which rotates its lights for various causes, holidays, and marketing campaigns, the Kennedy Center will now be dedicated to displaying national pride.
The Kennedy Center has been in the news ever since President Trump took office and promised major reforms, including firing the entire board, as The Daily Wire previously reported.
“At my direction, we are going to make the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., GREAT AGAIN,” Trump wrote on social media in February. “Just last year, the Kennedy Center featured Drag Shows specifically targeting our youth — THIS WILL STOP.”
The changes the new board made led to full-scale meltdowns on the Left, including protests expressed through interpretive dancing. But their protests haven’t made much of a difference. The Kennedy Center just broke its all-time attendance record for a public event it hosted on March 29, welcoming 11,000 attendees, of whom 76% were there for the first time.
