Elizabeth Williamson, writing at The New York Times:
In the Opera House, which no longer has an opera, there is an empty orchestra pit scattered with trash. On the grand terrace overlooking the Potomac River, the flower beds are wilting and weedy. In the corridors and lounges, artwork has disappeared.
…
No one yet knows whether President Trump, who in his second term gutted the center’s leadership, purged its programming and whose handpicked board had his name drilled into the building front, will close the Kennedy Center in the coming weeks, as part of what he says is a two-year renovation plan.
It’s hard to read this and not think of it as representing what is happening to the country under this administration. “Wilting”, “weedy”, “gutted”, “purged”.
Trump Gutted the Kennedy Center. A Tour Guide Wants You to See It Anyway.
In a dogged demonstration of love for a Washington institution, Sandy Weiswasser is among a few dozen volunteers still showing dwindling visitors a hollowed-out building.