The Obama Presidential Center on Chicago's South Side, a privately funded $850 million project, opens nearly a decade after Barack Obama left office. The 19-acre campus in Jackson Park includes a museum, library branch, basketball court, recording studio, and sledding hill. Unlike other presidential libraries, it features original works by 30 artists from diverse backgrounds, a move that quietly rebukes Donald Trump's approach to culture.
Valerie Jarrett, Obama Foundation CEO, said the Obamas love art and want visitors to engage with it. The artworks avoid overt political statements but engage with African American history, civil rights, and Chicago's cultural legacy.
Key Artworks
Martin Puryear's Bending the Arc in John Lewis Plaza is a 34-foot stainless steel sculpture inspired by Martin Luther King Jr.'s quote about justice, honoring John Lewis. Richard Hunt's Book Bird in the library garden symbolizes reading's emancipatory power; it was his final work before his 2023 death. Maya Lin's Seeing Through the Universe at the Ann Dunham Water Terrace features a mist-emitting oculus and a cascading water pebble.
Julie Mehretu's Uprising of the Sun is an 83-foot painted glass window on the museum's exterior, inspired by Obama's Selma speech. Njideka Akunyili Crosby's mixed-media portrait of Barack and Michelle Obama is the first created of them together. Nick Cave and Marie Watt collaborated on a multimedia textile piece blending Indigenous and Black traditions. Mark Bradford's City of the Big Shoulders is a 38-foot textured painting mapping Chicago and Lake Michigan. Idris Khan's Sky of Hope features thousands of hand-stamped words from Obama's speeches.
Museum Exhibits
The museum narrates Obama's presidency positively but not propagandistically. It includes poignant objects like a woven wall hanging made by Obama's mother when pregnant, his grandfather's colonial passbook, and an essay Obama wrote on Shakespeare. Campaign memorabilia includes buttons, signs, and a 7-Eleven coffee cup. The President's Lucky Charms display shows keepsakes supporters gave Obama, which he carried daily.
Exhibits acknowledge racist and xenophobic hostility during Obama's candidacy, but never mention Trump by name. Trump was not invited to the opening. The museum highlights Obama's achievements: the Paris climate agreement, Iran nuclear deal, restoring ties with Cuba, and Ebola response—all later undone by Trump. It also notes the Affordable Care Act's limitations.
The fourth level features White House room dioramas, Michelle Obama's dresses, and a replica Oval Office with the Resolute desk. The eighth level offers panoramic views with concrete letters from Obama's Selma speech.
Valerie Jarrett said the center is timeless and values-driven, preparing the next generation. One notable absence: the tan suit Obama wore in 2014; he gave it away while cleaning his closet.
