MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
If you've been following the legal battle surrounding the Kennedy Center, you know it has dragged on for months. The Center's board voted to close the facility. Now President Trump is saying the building could be torn down if his name isn't on it. So what's it actually look like, sound like, feel like right now as everyone waits to see what the next twist may be? Let's put that to NPR's Ava Berger because she is there outside the Kennedy Center. She's been talking with visitors and residents. Hi there, Ava.
AVA BERGER, BYLINE: Hi, Mary Louise.
KELLY: So where exactly are you? What are you seeing?
BERGER: I am right in front of the Kennedy Center right now, and what I'm seeing is that it's surrounded by barriers. So no one is able to go in and out. And there's actually a large tarp, Mary Louise, that basically blocks most of JFK's name. And I saw D.C. resident Keith Leonard (ph) earlier peering over a barrier. He was trying to get a look at the front doors. He's 42 and has lived in the district almost his whole life. He visited the center as a kid, and he explained it better than I could.
KEITH LEONARD: This place just used to have a lot of life to it, and now it's just in this sort of stagnant purgatory that is deeply, deeply unsettling.
KELLY: OK, you're talking to other people. What else you hearing?
BERGER: Yeah, I've been outside the center for almost the whole day, and people are stopping and taking pictures. I've seen cars slow down. And this is a place that holds a lot of memories for people. Keith Leonard, again - he would come with his grandparents and throughout his childhood.
LEONARD: You know, I would come here for school performances, and it just - it was always here, and it was always largely unchanged, and it felt comforting. And now, for the first time in my life, I can't do that. And it's just very, very strange.
BERGER: And I also talked to Fred Schramm (ph). He worked for the government for 40 years. That includes the Department of Homeland Security and the Air Force. He said he's embarrassed by what's happening.
FRED SCHRAMM: In remembrance of JFK - my God, this thing was dedicated to him. And to put somebody else's name on it is sacrilege. I don't know what they're doing and why they're doing it, but I got a feeling it's not a really good reason.
KELLY: Ava, there is an event planned for this evening, some kind of protest. Have you heard anything about that?
BERGER: Yes, and there are people all around me right now. It's a group called Hands Off The Arts, and they're organizing what they call joyful protest. They actually plan to physically join hands around the center. They said they want to uplift staff and present and former artists who have performed.
TARA HOOT: There's so much angst and sadness in the world right now, and the United States is in such a state of just shock. And we want to use the arts to bring hope, to energize people, to say the people have the power.
BERGER: That's Tara Hoot. She's a D.C. drag performer and one of the organizers.
HOOT: I think it could be enough to light a fire, to spark an interest, to show people that they can speak up and make a difference in this time when people feel hopeless.
BERGER: And today, she's decked out in red, white and blue. She has sparkly silver high heels that I'm looking at. And she said the Kennedy Center - it's not just important for D.C.
HOOT: The Kennedy Center stands for, obviously, the performing arts in the United States, and that's everybody. That's small bands from the Midwest. It's big acts from New York City.
KELLY: I can just picture her, Ava, in those sparkly silver high heels and the red, white and blue. Did she say how many people she is expecting, how many people she's hoping might turn out tonight?
BERGER: Yeah, and she really does look fabulous out here, Mary Louise. But she said that these gatherings on Fridays usually get about 60 to 100 people. But with all these headlines and the court cases, they're expecting hundreds. And there's a buzz in the air right now. There's a lot more red, white and blue. There's a lot of signs. Organizers are handing out pins. And I will note, there's quite a few security guards around the center right now.
KELLY: That is NPR's Ava Berger in the thick of it outside the Kennedy Center, reporting live for us tonight. Thank you, Ava.
BERGER: Thank you, Mary Louise.
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