Eisenhower signed the National Cultural Center Act, but it took support from the Kennedy's to finish funding the project

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Republicans looks to rename entire Kennedy Center after Trump
Republicans are also seeking to rename the Kennedy Center’s Opera House after First Lady Melania Trump
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/kennedy-center-rename-trump-melania-b2797537.html

President Johnson breaks ground for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, December 2, 1964.

In 1958, President Eisenhower signed legislation establishing a national cultural center in Washington, D.C. For the first time, the federal government would support, and partially fund, a performing arts venue for the nation. Architect Edward Durell Stone was chosen to design the center.

By the time Kennedy took office, private fundraising for the center had stalled. Kennedy asked Roger L. Stevens, a seasoned Broadway producer, to take over as chair of the center’s board, and enlisted the help of both Mrs. Eisenhower and Mrs. Kennedy as honorary co-chairwomen. On November 29, 1962, An American Pageant of the Arts launched a $30 million fundraising campaign.

After Kennedy’s death, in recognition of his commitment to the arts and his leadership in promoting the National Cultural Center, President Lyndon Johnson signed a bill renaming the center the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on January 23, 1964, designating it as the living memorial to the late president. The gala opening on September 8, 1971, presented the world premiere of Leonard Bernstein’s MASS: A Theater Piece for Singers, Players, and Dancers. Shortly after, Alberto Ginastera’s opera Beatrix Cenci premiered in the Opera House, Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House was presented in the Eisenhower Theater, and Antal Dorati conducted the National Symphony Orchestra in the Concert Hall.





To support the proposed Cultural Center, President Kennedy declared the week of November 26-December 2, 1962 “National Cultural Center Week.” During that week, a black tie audience attended the fundraiser An American Pageant of the Arts. Leonard Bernstein led a star-studded program featuring comedian Danny Kaye, ballerina Maria Tallchief, singer Marian Anderson, seven-year-old cellist Yo-Yo Ma, actor Bob Newhart, and musician Harry Belafonte with music by the United States Navy Band and the National Symphony Orchestra.





In his remarks at the televised fundraiser for the National Cultural Center to a live audience of 5,000 as well as closed-circuit TV viewers in over 60 communities nationwide, President Kennedy observed, “Art knows no national boundaries. Genius can speak in any tongue, and the entire world will hear it and listen…I am certain that after the dust of centuries has passed over our cities, we, too, will be remembered, not for victories or defeats in battle or in politics but for our contribution to the human spirit.”

After the assassination of President Kennedy, President Johnson shepherded bipartisan legislation renaming the center in his honor. The John F. Kennedy Center Act, signed into law on January 23, 1964, amended the original National Cultural Center Act to rename the center and committed an additional $15.5 million in federal matching funds. Nations throughout the world gifted construction materials and artwork to the center in Kennedy’s memory.

https://www.kennedy-center.org/memorial/jfk/highlights/national-cultural-center/

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