THE KENNEDY CENTER: A HISTORICAL AND ARTISTIC TOUR

President John F. Kennedy, with Founding Chairman Roger L. Stevens, views a model of Edward Durell Stone's design for the National Cultural Center.

On August 3, 1963, only a few months before his death, President Kennedy signed legislation to expand the number of trustees and extend the time for raising private funds.

President Johnson broke ground for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts using the same gold-plated shovel used by President Taft for the Lincoln Memorial and President Franklin D. Roosevelt for the Jefferson Memorial. President Kennedy's brother, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, can be seen in the background.

The Tom Sawyer Project invited students from all 50 states to decorate the safety barriers during construction.

The Kennedy Center rising along the shores of the Potomac river.

Actor Alan Titus, Joan Kennedy, and Senator Edward Kennedy watch Leonard Bernstein conducting a rehearsal of Mass in late August 1971.

Alan Titus as The Celebrant in Leonard Bernstein's Mass.

Michael Hume as The Celebrant in Leonard Bernstein's Mass.

The president's widow, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, attends a performance in 1972.

The Hall of States welcomes visitors with its colorful display of flags from all 50 states, hung in the order they entered the union, as well as U.S. territories.

The Kennedy Center Grand Foyer is one of the largest rooms in the world. It serves as the lobby for the Eisenhower Theater, Opera House, and Concert Hall.

The Lobmeyr crystal chandelier was a gift from the people of Austria. It is 50 feet in diameter and contains almost 2,000 light bulbs.

The 40 wooden ceiling panels decorated with acrylic paints and 22-carat gold leaf by Shraga Weil illustrate musical events described in the Old Testament.

The Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, at the north and south ends of the Grand Foyer, offers a free performance Wednesday through Saturday at 6 p.m. Performances are streamed live on the internet and archived for later viewing.

The Kennedy Center Hall of Nations displays flags of all the countries with which the U.S. maintains diplomatic relations.

The Terrace Theater, a Bicentennial gift from the people of Japan to the United States, opened in 1979. Located on the Roof Terrace level, it seats 513 for intimate performances of chamber music, recitals, dance, and theater.

The Kennedy Center Theater Lab is a semi-circular thrust stage seating 398 that features plays, comedy, and lectures.

The Kennedy Center overlooks the Potomac River with views of Georgetown and Northern Virginia.

The marble walls of the River Plaza are engraved with quotations by President Kennedy on the importance of the arts in American culture.

The Washington Opera Society (now Washington National Opera) presented the world premiere of Alberto Ginastera’s Beatrix Cenci during the Kennedy Center’s opening week in 1971.

In honor of the 1976 Bicentennial, National Symphony Orchestra Music Director Antal Dorati commissioned 12 works from American composers.

Andrea McArdle in the pre-Broadway engagement of the original production of Annie. Co-produced by the Kennedy Center, it went on to win seven Tony Awards including Best Musical in 1977.

Commissioned by the Washington Opera and the Kennedy Center, Gian Carlo Menotti’s Goya, starring Plácido Domingo, received its world premiere in 1986 and was broadcast on PBS.

John Adams's 1987 opera Nixon in China was co-commissioned by the Kennedy Center, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and the Houston Grand Opera. The production was directed by Peter Sellars with choreography by Mark Morris.

Paul Taylor's exuberant Company B became an “instant masterpiece” (The New York Times) upon its Kennedy Center-commissioned world premiere by Houston Ballet in 1991.

In 1993, the Kennedy Center co-produced Robert Schenkkan's Pulitzer Prize-winning Kentucky Cycle, the 200-year saga of an American family told through a six-hour epic of 9 short plays. The Broadway transfer earned three Tony nominations, including Best Play, in 1994.

The 2002 Sondheim Celebration featured six new productions from across Stephen Sondheim's career. Brian Stokes Mitchell and Christine Baranski starred as the murderous barber and baker in Sweeney Todd.

Sally Field starred as Amanda Wingfield in the Kennedy Center production of A Glass Menagerie for Tennessee Williams Explored in 2004.

Nearly 20 companies came together in 2005 for Masters of African American Choreography, an unprecedented five-program festival exploring the contributions of African American choreographers to modern dance.

The Kennedy Center's dedication to accessibility shone in the Performances for Young Audiences 2007 world premiere musical Nobody's Perfect, performed in spoken English and American Sign Language with Open Captioning.

Mo Willems's delightful children's book came to life in the 2010 Kennedy Center world premiere production Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical.

Making an annual appearance since 2002, Mariinsky Ballet presented a lavish production of The Sleeping Beauty in 2010.

The 2014 festival One Mic: Hip-Hop Culture Worldwide celebrated this uniquely American art form through MCing, DJing, b-boying, and graffiti writing, alongside contemporary interdisciplinary work born of hip-hop aesthetics.

Development programs such as the National Symphony Orchestra Summer Music Institute help young artists create a strong foundation for a professional career in the arts.

The Kennedy Center's Performances for Young Audiences takes newly-commissioned works to communities across the country through its touring program.

Visiting artists conduct workshops with local school children.

The VSA Playwright Discovery Award Program selects and produces new plays written by youth on themes of disability.

The biannual New Visions/New Voices conference presents workshops of new plays in development for young audiences.

Renowned American architect Steven Holl created an innovative design that preserves the silhouette of the original Edward Durell Stone building while providing new spaces for audience engagement activities.