Hands Off the Arts to stage human chain outside Kennedy Center Friday evening

Hands Off the Arts, an activist group that opposes President Donald Trump's takeover of the Kennedy Center, has organized a human chain protest outside the arts venue for Friday evening. The demonstration brings the dispute over the performing arts complex into public, physical form.

The group has kept its focus narrow. Its campaign centers on the Trump administration's authority over the Kennedy Center, and Friday's planned action takes that opposition to the building itself. A human chain is a protest format in which participants link together to form a perimeter outside a location. It places people on the ground outside the venue, making the group's presence visible.

Friday evening, outside the Kennedy Center, is what to watch. The human chain is what Hands Off the Arts has committed to, and the demonstration is the next concrete development in the contest over the venue's control.