Fired Kennedy Center director to speak May 21 in Sarasota
May 14, 2025 - Deborah F. Rutter, longtime director of Washington, D.C.'s Kennedy Center for the Arts, will be the keynote speaker May 21 at the Sarasota Opera House, at an event sponsored by the Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County. Rutter, who was fired by President Donald Trump after 10 years of running the performing arts center, spearheaded the first physical expansion of the Kennedy Center, a $250 million project known as REACH. For details and tickets, visit this link.