As America's National Park for the Performing Arts, WolfTrap plays a valuable leadership role in both the local and national performing arts communities. Through a wide range of artistic and education programs, Wolf Trap enhances our nation's cultural life and ensures that the arts remain accessible and affordable to the broadest possible audience.

The late Catherine Filene Shouse founded Wolf Trap through a donation of 100 acres of her Vienna, Virginia farmland (near Washington, DC) to the U.S. Government, as well as funds for construction of a 6,800 seat indoor/outdoor theater. The gift was accepted by an Act of Congress in 1966 and Wolf Trap's larger venue, the Filene Center, opened in 1971 as a public/private partnership between the Wolf Trap Foundation and the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service.

The Foundation, a "501(c)(3)" not-for-profit organization, creates and selects programming; develops all education programs; handles ticket sales, marketing, publicity and public relations; and raises funds to support these programs while keeping ticket prices affordable. The National Park Service maintains the grounds and buildings of Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts and provides technical theater assistance for the Filene Center at Wolf Trap.