John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Performing arts center in Washington, D.C., United States.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is a performing arts center in Washington, D.C. that holds nine separate venues within a single large complex along the Potomac riverfront. The three main halls accommodate major orchestral and operatic productions, while smaller stages host experimental theater, chamber music, and recitals.

The idea dates to 1933, when Eleanor Roosevelt discussed a national cultural center to employ actors during the Depression; Congress authorized it in the National Cultural Center Act, signed by Eisenhower on September 4, 1958. Edward Durell Stone was chosen as architect in June 1959. After Kennedy's assassination the board re-envisioned the project as a living memorial, and Congress renamed it for him in 1964.

The Opera House interior is lined with red velvet and a red-and-gold silk curtain given by Japan, lit by a Lobmeyr crystal chandelier donated by Austria. The Concert Hall holds a 4,144-pipe organ gifted by the Filene Foundation of Boston and Hadeland glass chandeliers from Norway. The Eisenhower Theater uses laurel-family wood panelling and a red-and-black Canadian wool curtain.

The building sits on the east bank of the Potomac, with the Hall of States and Hall of Nations foyers linking the Concert Hall in the south wing, the Opera House in the center and the Eisenhower Theater in the north wing. The rooftop terrace, reached by elevator, looks out over the river, the Watergate complex and the Rosslyn skyline. The Family Theater, seating 324, opened on December 9, 2005.

One of the foyers runs more than 600 feet (180 meters) in length and frequently serves as a reception space for diplomatic events and state functions. The red carpeted expanse stretches through multiple levels and connects the different halls to one another.