Thus today, as always, art knows no national boundaries.
Genius can speak in any tongue and the entire world will hear it and listen.
My grandfather believed in building bridges, in crossing boundaries, in uniting, and inspiring.
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts wasn't just named for him.
It was named for his belief in the power of art.
The Kennedy Center opened its doors in 1971.
Since then, the Kennedy Center has been a living memorial to my grandfather.
[driving instrumental music]
As the artistic landscape has evolved, the living memorial has expanded.
We call this expansion the REACH.
[instrumental music]
My grandfather reached across the aisle,
across racial divides,
and to the moon.
I know my grandfather would be so proud of the Kennedy Center's new expansion, the REACH,
because it does what he did.
It reaches out.
With intimate spaces designed for human connection.
With glass walls, so creativity is seen.
With learning spaces, where the future is born in the present.
With public space open to all.
The REACH began with the design of architect Steven Holl.
We made the three pavilions that come up from an integration of the landscape.
Those pavilions emerge from the landscape and they connect everything down below,
and, also, the landscape is wrinkled and shifted so that brings natural light to all those pavilions.
There are benches by the pools, a lot of places to sit.
We have windows looking into practice rooms so that you can get a glimpse of
different rehearsals that are actually going on.
The REACH is our opportunity to unlock and open the doors
between where artists do their work and where audiences participate in the arts.
There's a little bit of discovery, participation, and exploration,
and all of the REACH is meant to complement
the really beautiful spaces that we have here at the Kennedy Center.
Just a different kind of engagement with the art.
It will really make the Kennedy Center a transformational Performing Arts Center.
Really, the finest in the world.
(John F. Kennedy) I see little of more importance to the future of our country
and our civilization
than full recognition
of the place of the artist.
If art is to nourish the roots of our culture,
society must set the artist free
to follow his vision wherever it takes him.
The REACH expands space for artists to follow their visions.
It connects to the city and the landscape.
It bridges the past to the future.
This is a new chapter for the Kennedy Center.
It's a moment where we become a different kind of institution than we've been before.
It's giving us a place to explore. A place to grow.
To see an external part of the Kennedy Center that can really reach the people.
Making the Kennedy Center more welcoming, more approachable
for anyone who wants to come.
What's cool about the REACH is
you never know what's going on.
It is experimental and there's always something new.
The REACH is a fantastic space for master classes,
For bringing teachers together with wonderful people who want to learn how to better their skills.
As far as connecting the artists with the audiences,
that can change lives.
That will change lives.
The REACH changes the life of the Kennedy Center.
It does what my grandfather knew the arts could do.
Build bridges,
cross boundaries,
unite,
and inspire
in ways we can only imagine.