Virginia woman donated 100 acres that became America's performing arts park

In the 1960s, Catherine Filene Shouse, a prominent Washington arts advocate, had a unique vision for a Virginia farm: transforming it into a performing arts park as part of America's national park system. Shouse, well-connected in Washington's political and cultural circles, came up with the idea in 1964 when interest in culture was growing in Washington, DC.

This time coincided with the Kennedy administration's emphasis on the arts as an essential aspect of American public life, with Robert Frost participating in President Kennedy's 1961 inauguration ceremony.

Shouse's proposal aligned with the growing movement for more government funding for the arts and humanities, championed by Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall. Udall's initiatives included the reopening of Ford's Theatre, which had been a museum for over a century after President Abraham Lincoln's assassination in 1865.

As Shouse approached the National Park Service with her idea, Wolf Trap Farm had previously been offered to the National Symphony Orchestra but was rejected due to concerns about accessibility. Undeterred, Shouse approached Congress, which approved legislation on October 15, 1966, to establish Wolf Trap Farm Park in Fairfax County, Virginia. Shouse, aged 71, donated nearly 100 acres of her farmland and funded the construction of an amphitheater, converting private land into a public cultural center.

Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts became renowned for its outdoor performances, blending nature and the arts within an open-air setting. The Filene Center, the park's signature venue, offered music and theater experiences immersed in the surrounding landscape, marking a unique departure from the conventional national park model. Today, Wolf Trap stands as the sole national park in the United States dedicated to the performing arts, carrying forward the vision Shouse first championed over six decades ago.