‘It’s a Marker of a Time in the History of Our Country’: Inside the Obama Presidential Center
“Quintessence” by Jay Heikes
Heikes contributed a series of bronze stars that are displayed on the walls of a courtyard.
“The Cool Blue Wind” by Carrie Mae Weems
Weems’s photographic collage is printed on metallic paper with a blue overlay and is accompanied by a jazz suite that will be available to the public.
“Book Bird” by Richard Hunt
The literary-themed sculpture is located outside of the library.
“Memory Landscape (Nairobi, Chicago, Honolulu, Jakarta)” by Spencer Finch
The mural was inspired by Obama’s autobiography, Dreams From My Father.
“To See What They Could See” and “American Vista” by Theaster Gates
Gates’s works incorporate photography from the archives of the Johnson Publishing Company, the Chicago-based publisher of Jet and Ebony.
“Still Holding the Scent of Flowers” by Maria Magdalena Campos Pons
Campos Pons’s mixed-media installation is a nod to the history of the White House Rose Garden and the vegetable garden that Michelle Obama created.
“City of the Big Shoulders” by Mark Bradford
Bradford’s 38-foot-tall painting is a map of Chicago named for a line from the Carl Sandburg poem, Chicago.
“Freedom Riders” by Jenny Holzer
The text-based painting references declassified FBI files on civil rights activists.
“Yet With a Steady Beat” by Jeffrey Gibson
The 17 prints in Gibson’s installation are inspired by hand drums and political buttons.
“Receive” by Kiki Smith
Smith’s bronze sculpture highlights the celestial themes in her work.
“This Land, Shared Sky” by Marie Watt in collaboration with Nick Cave
The two artists worked together on a textile work made from beaded nets and jingles.
“Hidden Reflection” by Hugo McCloud
McCloud’s painting references significant places from Obama’s life. It hangs in an area of Tafari’s Kitchen, the center’s café named for Tafari Campbell, a chef who worked with the Obama family and died in 2023.
“Broken Men” by Rashid Johnson
Johnson’s mosaic is displayed in the teaching kitchen, which is part of the fruit and vegetable garden.
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