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Deborah F. Rutter will step down as president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington at the end of the year, the center announced on Monday, in the latest sign of uncertainty at the institution as it navigates President Trump\u2019s second term.<\/p>\n
The Kennedy Center had planned to welcome a new board chairman<\/a> this year, but shortly after the presidential election it announced that it had failed to find a new one<\/a> and that David M. Rubenstein, who was elected chairman in 2010, would stay on until September 2026.<\/p>\n Ms. Rutter, 68, the center\u2019s president since 2014, guided the organization through the coronavirus pandemic, oversaw an expansion of its campus, added hip-hop and comedy to its offerings and lured the Italian conductor Gianandrea Noseda to be music director of the National Symphony Orchestra. She helped keep the Kennedy Center Honors, the popular annual telecast recognizing distinguished American artists, robust during Mr. Trump\u2019s first term, when he broke with precedent and declined to attend<\/a> after some honorees criticized him.<\/p>\n Ms. Rutter, whose contract is up in August, agreed to stay on through the end of the year to help with the transition. She said in an interview that the center was looking forward to working with Mr. Trump and his administration, noting that half of the center\u2019s board is made up of his appointees. She said that the first lady, Melania Trump, had already personally expressed interest in reconnecting with the center.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cRepublicans don\u2019t love the arts more or less than Democrats,\u201d Ms. Rutter said.<\/p>\n Ms. Rutter said that she was leaving because she was ready for a change, and that it was time for a new generation of leaders to \u201cpick up the mantle and move the Kennedy Center forward.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not leaving because I\u2019m tired of the Kennedy Center,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m leaving because it\u2019s time for me to think about using my talents in another way, and for the Kennedy Center to have a fresh new vision.\u201d<\/p>\n The new administration is already having an impact on the arts. Last week, the National Gallery of Art in Washington announced that it would end its diversity, equity and inclusion programs<\/a> because of Mr. Trump\u2019s executive order<\/a> calling such initiatives \u201cillegal and immoral.\u201d<\/p>\n The Kennedy Center does not have a formal diversity, equity and inclusion program, according to Ms. Rutter. But the center promotes its commitment<\/a> to \u201cdiversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility and belonging.\u201d And a social credo<\/a>, drafted in 2021, describes the center\u2019s aim of \u201celevating and supporting the voices of those who have been historically marginalized and underrepresented.\u201d<\/p>\n Ms. Rutter said the center would review the language it uses to describe diversity efforts in light of the executive order.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The center is still waiting to see the new administration\u2019s arts policies. In his first term, Mr. Trump proposed eliminating the National Endowment for the Arts<\/a>, but it survived, and even grew, because of bipartisan backing in Congress<\/a>.<\/p>\n