    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1991, Book I)]
    [April 22, 1991]
    [Pages 413-414]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Musicale
    Reception
    April 22, 1991

        Maestro, you and Sara can see how we all felt about that. But to
    Chairman Wolfensohn and Elaine; Chairman of the Corporate Fund William
    Schreyer; and to Dina--Dina Merrill Hartley of the Trustee Development
    Committee; and to the Congressional Trustees, we welcome them, the
    members of the Trustees Circle and the new Hundred Club of the Corporate
    Fund.
        It is a pleasure--sheer heaven--for us to be here tonight sharing in
    a dream, Ted, of President Kennedy's. JFK yearned
    to see an America that valued the art as much as business or science or
    politics. And he once said, ``Roosevelt and Lincoln understood that the
    life of the arts is very close to the center of a nation's purpose and
    is a test of the quality of a nation's civilization.''

    [[Page 414]]

        Tonight, in a sense, we pay tribute to that vision. And to all of
    yours. You're here because you care deeply about this country's need to
    nourish its spirit. You're here because you believe in the Kennedy
    Center's vital and exciting and enjoyable work. And you've given of
    yourselves to endow its future and the Nation's.
        And this is important work, and it's great work, and it's essential
    work because art strikes a chord within our hearts. The Kennedy Center
    brings that extraordinary experience in all its wonderful diversity to
    millions of people. But it does something else remarkable, too. It has
    charged into a leadership position in our society by broadening and
    deepening its education program, for its directors understand that
    nothing is more important than teaching our youth.
        And as we equip kids with the skills to compete in the 21st century,
    we must also help them develop as complete human beings. One way to do
    this is through the arts. And without knowledge of the beauty and depth
    of the human spirit, our lives and successes can become dull and
    joyless.
        As our national center for the arts, the Kennedy Center reaches
    across America and into the future. Last year its--your--education and
    public service programs reached over six million people, many of them
    kids, many of them children. Think of it. Think of how your gifts today
    are ensuring the future of the arts for the audiences of tomorrow. But
    the Kennedy Center clearly will not rest on such laurels. You've begun
    exploring new ways to bring art to even more people, making full use of
    television and radio, technologies that can turn homes into theaters.
        Your gifts are part of a unique private-public partnership, begun
    last year by the Congressional Trustees who are with us here tonight.
    They encouraged Congress, which answered my call for the funding needed
    to rescue the Center. And they helped inspire you, the donors that we
    salute this evening.
        And of course, tonight, we also salute two dazzling performers.
    Maestro Rostropovich, you honor us with your presence. We're moved not
    only by your artistry but also by your compassion as an inexhaustible
    defender of human rights.
        And Jim Wolfensohn has given many gifts to the artistic heart of
    this country. Sara, however, may be the most remarkable. [Laughter] So,
    thank you for showing us the importance of passing on the legacy, Jim,
    of your cultural heritage.
        You remind us of William Blake's words: ``Nations are destroyed or
    flourish in proportion as their poetry, painting, and music are
    destroyed or flourish.''
        And so, through the Kennedy Center, we resolve that our arts and our
    nation will, indeed, flourish forever.
        Thank you all. And God bless you in this important work.

                        Note: The President spoke at 5:51 p.m. in the East
                            Room at the White House, following a performance
                            by cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, the National
                            Symphony Orchestra's music director, and pianist
                            Sara Wolfensohn. In his remarks, the President
                            referred to James D. Wolfensohn, Chairman of the
                            Board of Directors of the Kennedy Center and
                            father of Sara Wolfensohn; Mr. Wolfensohn's
                            wife, Elaine; William A. Schreyer, chairman and
                            chief executive officer of Merrill Lynch and
                            Co., Inc., and Chairman of the Kennedy Center
                            Corporate Fund; Dina Merrill Hartley, Trustee of
                            the Center and Chairperson of the Trustee
                            Development Committee; and Senator Edward M.
                            Kennedy.