Arts program focuses on youth

A five-year, $125-million program to bring more young audiences to live plays, music and other arts was announced Wednesday by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

Michael M. Kaiser, the Kennedy Center’s president, announced the program the day after publication of a detailed study by the Rand Corp. urging that more money and attention be paid to cultivating demand for the arts rather than on subsidizing production of more art.

The program will operate not only in Washington, but throughout the country. Kaiser said the center has been working with schools in 101 cities to bring more of the arts into the classroom and the new program will amplify that, especially through use of the Internet.