{"id":9468,"date":"2026-03-16T23:36:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T23:36:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/kennedy-center-shut-down-2-years-board-vote\/"},"modified":"2026-03-16T23:36:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T23:36:08","slug":"kennedy-center-shut-down-2-years-board-vote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/kennedy-center-shut-down-2-years-board-vote\/","title":{"rendered":"Kennedy Center to Shut Down Operations for 2 Years Following Board\u00a0Vote"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\tThe Kennedy Center\u2019s board of directors voted on Monday to shut down operations for two years following this summer\u2019s July 4 celebrations. The widely expected decision comes in the wake of numerous resignations and cancellations during President\u00a0Donald Trump\u2019s\u00a0second term, although Trump himself has cited the need for repairs as a reason for the closure.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe\u2019re going to ensure it remains the finest performing arts facility of its kind anywhere in the world,\u201d Trump told reporters at the White House before the board met Monday.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tTrump Ally Richard Grenell to Step Down as Kennedy Center\u00a0President\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tNew\u00a0Levels Strike Global Partnership With\u00a0Virgin Music Group, Signs Hooligan Hefs\u00a0& More\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n

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\n\tThe board also voted to install Matt Floca<\/strong> as CEO and executive director,\u00a0replacing Trump ally Richard Grenell<\/strong>, who oversaw far-reaching changes at the venue that prompted an outcry from many artists and exacerbated the operation\u2019s financial challenges. Trump praised Grenell on Monday, saying he had been a longtime friend, and wished Floca \u201cgood luck with everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Kennedy Center said the vote was unanimous, though Rep. Joyce Beatty didn\u2019t cast a vote. The Ohio Democrat is an ex officio member of the board and sued to preclude the Trump administration from excluding her from Monday\u2019s meeting. Over the weekend, a\u00a0federal judge ruled\u00a0she was entitled to participate in the meeting but didn\u2019t require that the board allow her to vote.<\/p>\n

\n\tTrump hosted the board meeting at the White House in a reminder of the influence he has held over the Kennedy Center during his second term. Shortly after returning to office last year, Trump\u00a0ousted\u00a0the center\u2019s previous leadership and replaced it with a hand-picked board of trustees that named him chairman. He also brought in Grenell, who served in a variety of capacities during Trump\u2019s first term, when the president mostly ignored the Kennedy Center.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe center\u2019s lineup has since included more Trump-friendly programming, including serving as the venue for the premiere of first lady Melania Trump\u2019s documentary, \u201cMelania.\u201d The board also announced it had renamed the facility the Trump Kennedy Center, a change scholars and lawmakers say must be initiated by Congress, and physically added the president\u2019s name to the building\u2019s facade.<\/p>\n

The fallout from the arts community was swift and intense. Actor\u00a0Issa Rae,\u00a0musician Bela Fleck and author Louise Penny were among the numerous artists who withdrew from appearances, while consultants such as musician Ben Folds and singer Ren\u00e9e Fleming resigned. Earlier this month, the executive director of the National Symphony Orchestra, Jean Davidson, left to head the Los Angeles-based Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.<\/p>\n

\n\tWithout mentioning the abandoned performances, Trump said in February he would close the Kennedy Center to fix what he has described as a dilapidated building.<\/p>\n

\n\tAhead of the closure,\u00a0Grenell warned staff\u00a0about impending cuts that will leave \u201cskeletal teams.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFloca, Grenell\u2019s successor, had been serving as vice president of operations. According to his LinkedIn page, he joined the Kennedy Center in January 2024, during the Biden administration.<\/p>\n

A center press release from the time describes him as \u201can experienced facilities management professional with a construction management background and an appreciation for whole building design principles.\u201d<\/p>\n

Previous experience for Floca listed on LinkedIn includes a handful of positions with the District of Columbia government, among them associate director of sustainability and energy and director of facilities management. He graduated from Louisiana State University in 2009 with a Bachelor of Science degree in construction management.<\/p>\n

\n\tThis story was originally published by The Associated Press<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n


\n \"Billboard
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The Kennedy Center\u2019s board of directors voted on Monday to shut down operations for two years following this summer\u2019s July 4 celebrations. The widely expected decision comes in the wake…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[387,502,282,93,94,280],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business","category-business-news","category-donald-trump","category-kennedy-center","category-music-news","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9468"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9468\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}