Artist and curator Josef Palermo has lived in Washington for nearly two decades, but he wasn’t aware that the Kennedy Center had an Israeli lounge until he joined the venerable cultural institution as its curator of visual arts and special programming this summer. 

The Israeli Lounge has been underutilized in recent decades and largely unknown, even among the many Jewish patrons of the arts at the Kennedy Center. Yitzhak Rabin, then Israel’s ambassador to the United States, dedicated the lounge — a small room designed to visually tell the history of Jewish and Israeli music — as Israel’s gift to the United States in 1971, when the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts opened its doors alongside the Potomac River. 

Now, the walls of the Israeli Lounge are covered with paintings by American-Israeli artist Marc Provisor as part of a special monthlong exhibit commemorating the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks in Israel. Provisor’s son survived the Nova music festival, and the paintings are meant to bear witness to the brutality of what happened there. 

The exhibit, the opening of which was tied to the two-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks, marks the beginning of what Kennedy Center leaders say is an institutional commitment to combating antisemitism through the arts, first and foremost by spotlighting the works and contributions of Jewish artists. 

“This will not be the last time that we see some work related to antisemitism, or just celebrating the Jewish American community experience,” Palermo, who curated the Oct. 7 exhibit, told Jewish Insider in an interview last week. 

The Kennedy Center’s decision to focus resources on countering antisemitism comes at a time when many other institutions in the arts have joined cultural boycotts of Israel, or distanced themselves from Israeli artists amid the war in Gaza. In September, a Belgian music festival rescinded an invitation to the Munich Philharmonic because it was being led by an Israeli conductor. The Israel Philharmonic faced demonstrations outside Carnegie Hall during a four-day run of performances in New York this month. 

“Having this show in this space, the Israeli Lounge, I think affirms the Kennedy Center’s commitment to standing against other institutions [who are] joining a cultural boycott of Israel, on the basis that we are going to be defenders of free speech,” said Palermo. “Our leader of the Kennedy Center, Amb. [Richard] Grenell, has made clear that this is a place where all views are welcome. All people are welcome. And art has long been a domain to have these sorts of difficult discussions and conversations.” 

The Kennedy Center has been under fire from many in the art world this year amid President Donald Trump’s takeover of the institution. He removed all of former President Joe Biden’s appointees from the board and fired the center’s president, who held the role during the first Trump administration. The Kennedy Center has since faced censure from liberal critics, with some going so far as to boycott the institution. Several artists and musicians have canceled shows, and the hit musical “Hamilton” called off its planned 2026 run at the Kennedy Center in protest. 

Bonnie Glick, who joined the Kennedy Center this summer as senior director of individual giving and corporate relations with the goal of raising money for its antisemitism-focused programs, told JI she is not worried about the Jewish-related programming being viewed as political. 

“This is solidarity. It is not political,” said Glick. “It is the Kennedy Center, an apolitical institution, standing with the Jewish community and standing with Israel as well.” 

Grenell served as a diplomat and foreign policy advisor during Trump’s first administration, and was appointed by Trump in February as interim executive director of the Kennedy Center. A spokesperson for the Kennedy Center declined to make Grenell available for an interview but underscored that fighting antisemitism will remain an institutional priority. “It is increasingly important that America’s cultural center serves as a place where antisemitism is countered through thoughtful programming and events — a space that welcomes everyone,” said Roma Daravi, vice president of public relations. 

One of the only mainstage programs that stayed in place once Grenell was tapped to lead the institution was a production of “Parade,” the award-winning musical by Alfred Uhry about the 1915 lynching of Leo Frank, a Jewish industrialist who was killed after being wrongly convicted for the murder of a 13-year-old white girl. Robert Kraft’s Foundation to Combat Antisemitism, recently renamed the Blue Square Alliance Against Hate, helped underwrite the cost of the production. After the performances, viewers walked past a display with blue square pins — the organization’s signature item — along with material about its work fighting antisemitism. 

“We hadn’t worked with them before, but knowing their strategic focus on this issue got us really, really energized as a different way to distribute our message and ultimately raise awareness and empathy on this topic,” Blue Square Alliance’s president, Adam Katz, told JI. “Given their willingness to be bold and be innovative and take on this challenge, we’re excited to see if there could be other future collaboration opportunities that could benefit both what they’re trying to achieve and what we’re trying to achieve.” 

Glick also locked down a gift from former Paramount Chair Shari Redstone, whose family foundation sponsored the Oct. 7 exhibit.

“Our foundation was glad to support this vital remembrance of the terror of Oct. 7 and the agonizing experiences of the hostages and their families,” Redstone told JI in a statement. “We will continue to speak with the Kennedy Center about ways to educate audiences about the Jewish experience as a means of addressing antisemitism and promoting understanding and unity.”

Many of the Kennedy Center projects in the works about Jewish culture will be tied to a yearlong celebration of America’s 250th birthday, with special programs and performances scheduled throughout 2026. One of those, from the Kennedy Center’s director of music programming, Sammy Miller, will look at the influence of Jewish cantors who immigrated from Eastern Europe on American composers such as George Gershwin. 

“There’s a very tangible connection between Jewish contributions to the arts in America and the celebration of America,” said Glick, who served in the first Trump administration as deputy USAID administrator. 

Other possible programs include stand-up comedy from Jewish comedians, performances by Jewish collegiate a cappella groups and acts by Israeli musicians. Earlier this month, the Kennedy Center’s REACH Pavilion played host to the Sukkah of Hope, which highlighted the plight of the hostages who remained in Gaza — the first sukkah ever built at the Kennedy Center. It was supported by the family foundation of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and his wife, Allison.

“We care that the Kennedy Center is taking up this mandate to combat antisemitism through the arts as a way to signal to other sister performing arts organizations that not only is antisemitism not tolerated here, boycotts of Israel are not tolerated here, and joyful promotion of Jewish contributions to the arts absolutely are promoted here,” said Glick.

The Oct. 7 exhibit by Marc Provisor is on display at the Kennedy Center until Nov. 7.