[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 18 (Monday, May 6, 1996)]
[Pages 746-747]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at the 25th Anniversary Reception for the John F. Kennedy Center 
for the Performing Arts

April 27, 1996

    That's the most attractive introduction I've ever had. [Laughter]
    Ladies and gentlemen, welcome, welcome to the White House and 
welcome here for this occasion. We're delighted to join in the 25th 
anniversary celebration, and I want to say a special word of welcome to 
the members of the Kennedy family and to thank them for remaining 
tireless in their efforts to preserve, promote, and honor our Nation's 
culture.
    The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts prospers today as our 
national cultural institution, thanks to so many people who are 
committed to that ideal, the ideal that art and culture are not so much 
a pastime as a definer, a clarifier, a representation of America.
    Recently, the First Lady and I returned from a trip to the Far East 
and to Russia, and, as in other visits, we saw how prized an export our 
culture is. It's not just coincidence that it is embraced and adapted by 
a world increasingly sharing our democratic ideals. Visit almost any 
part of the world and there can be no doubt, our art, our music, our 
dance and theater are among our greatest ambassadors.
    Here in America the Kennedy Center is the Nation's stage. It's hard 
to believe that just a quarter century ago it was only a goal. President 
and Mrs. Kennedy realized the significance of a national cultural 
center. They even held a telethon to raise funds for the center. Of 
course, President Kennedy could not have known that he would be the 
center's greatest inspiration and its namesake. But there could not be a 
more fitting living memorial, for at the Kennedy Center each night we 
enjoy great performances, each year we honor great performing artists. 
Every day we work to commission and create new works and to reach and 
educate a new generation.

[[Page 747]]

    The Kennedy Center makes our culture accessible as it never was 
before. Last year more than 2 million people attended performances at 
the center. Another 20 million saw its touring and broadcast 
productions. And many of these people who could not otherwise afford the 
price of admission took advantage of free and low-cost performances.
    The Kennedy Center is truly a place for all Americans. It is promise 
and proof of our shared values. It offers a forum to an amazing variety 
of God-given talents. The best of art endures, enriches, and enlivens 
the human condition far beyond the horizon of any of our tomorrows. Our 
art is the best record of who we are, what we have been, and what we 
hope to become.
    President Kennedy said it best in words inscribed in the marble 
walls of his memorial: ``There is a connection, hard to explain 
logically, but easy to feel between achievement in public life and 
progress in the arts. The age of Pericles was also the age of Phidias. 
The age of Lorenzo de Medici was also the age of Leonardo da Vinci. The 
age of Elizabeth was also the age of Shakespeare.''
    Tonight we pause and pay tribute to the deeper sources of our 
strength, the expressions of the human spirit that light up not only our 
stages, but our national life. We celebrate 25 years of the John F. 
Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and we look forward in joyful 
expectation to new generations of performances. The best of the Kennedy 
Center is yet to come.
    Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 5:15 p.m. in the East Room at the White 
House.