How Young Audiences Are Affected by Kennedy Center Shutdown

The sudden announcement in February that the Kennedy Center would be closing for renovations for two years has sent ripples throughout Washington, D.C.’s arts community.

With the DMV’s largest and most well-known performance venue closing July 4, the future is uncertain for many musicians, dancers, actors and others who have performed on the center’s stages. It’s uncommon for renovations to completely shut down an institution as major as the Kennedy Center.

This closure also means that the Kennedy Center’s Performances for Young Audiences program, which consists of concerts, musicals and plays aimed at children, will also have its 2025-2026 season cut short. Originally, a concert based on the “Fraggle Rock” TV series was planned for July 25 and July 26.

Other experiences that have been available to families through the program include educational resources like Moonshot Studio—in which kids with their parents could arrive early or stay late after weekend shows for hands-on activities that allow them to “try on” different art forms and create their own art. The Kennedy Center has also hosted free family dance workshops and free classes for National Dance Day. And families who opted for a Kennedy Center subscription could create a mix-and-match series including adult and young audience shows for flexibility.

Educational resources such as virtual field trips, free lesson plans and video series may still be available while the center is under construction.

2025 Changes to the Kennedy Center

The shutdown of the Kennedy Center is the latest in a string of developments put into effect by the Trump administration. President Donald Trump ousted former center president Deborah Rutter shortly after taking office, promising the elimination of “woke” programming and renaming the center to “The Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts” in late 2025.

Many artists and groups with performances planned at the center, such as the U.S. Marine Band, the Washington National Opera and the touring production of the musical “Hamilton,” have boycotted the center in response to these policy changes.

Still, many are mourning the loss of the opportunities that the Kennedy Center presented to artists from across the country.

“The Millennium Stage [series of free programs] is one of the few national opportunities in which people are able to present their work in a very visible way across Washington, D.C.,” explains Deirdre Evans-Pritchard, executive director of the DC Independent Film Festival (DCIFF).

“There’s an opportunity for artists across the country to be seen and heard, and for audiences to explore culture outside of their immediate experience. It was a fantastic opportunity, so I’m very sad about that.”

What’s Next?

With the Kennedy Center closed for the next two years, the D.C. venues where performers can take their shows are relatively limited. Many former venues have already closed — Evans-Pritchard cites Landmark’s E Street Cinema, where many DCIFF films were screened before it closed its doors in early 2025.

The Washington National Opera will be moving to the Listener Auditorium at The George Washington University, with its artistic director stating in a New York Times article that the company had started looking into alternative venues as early as April 2025. The National Symphony Orchestra, which had not boycotted the Kennedy Center, has yet to announce where its performances will be held during the center’s closure.

“We’re in a city full of large, empty buildings, yet somehow there’s not very much space for us to do things,” Evans-Pritchard adds. “That seems like such a shame in the nation’s capital, where there should be more public space and more opportunities to do things, and it should not all have to be dominated by commercial principles.”

The center is expected to reopen in 2028, but it is currently unclear if any parts of the historic building, or the 88 pieces of art from around the world housed within, will be preserved.

Evans-Pritchard notes that while the closure presents a large roadblock for artists who wish to perform in D.C., local art enthusiasts have risen to meet the moment.

“I hope that this will result in a revival of volunteer energy — where if not enough is being done to meet the moment, we should get together and do more ourselves,” she says. “We in our organization [DCIFF] have seen a lot of volunteer support this year. As other organizations struggle to respond to these situations, they are turning to their patrons and their existing community to build from.”