[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.