Virtual Program | A Preview of the Future Obama Presidential Center Museum
A rendering of the Obama Presidential Center Museum
The design of the Obama Presidential Center Museum is inspired by the idea of four hands coming together, recognizing that many hands shape a place.
Kehinde Wiley, Barack Obama, oil on canvas, 2018, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. © 2018 Kehinde Wiley / The National Portrait Gallery is grateful to the generous donors who made this commission possible and proudly recognizes them at npg.si.edu/obamaportraitstour
Amy Sherald, Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama, oil on linen, 2018, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. / The National Portrait Gallery is grateful to the generous donors who made this commission possible and proudly recognizes them at npg.si.edu/obamaportraitstour
A Preview of the Obama Presidential Center Museum
Presented by Louise Bernard, director of the Obama Presidential Center Museum, in conjunction with “The Obama Portraits Tour”
This preview of the Obama Presidential Center Museum in Chicago shows how the museum’s design and inaugural exhibitions will document globally significant moments of President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama’s eight years in the White House.
How does the design of the future museum reflect the Obamas’ belief that change happens from the bottom up? That’s just one of the topics covered. Other subjects include objects or documents that relate to the paintings on view in The Obama Portraits Tour, works that highlight the Obamas’ commitment to the arts, and selections that may be especially funny or ironic. The program also looks at the couple’s lives, careers, causes, and legacies.
Free / Live via Zoom
Monday, April 11, 2022 at 6:30 p.m.
About the Speaker
Prior to joining the Obama Foundation in 2017, Louise Bernard was director of exhibitions at the New York Public Library. Before that, she worked on the design team that developed the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, among other international projects.
The Freed Lecture Series is made possible by endowment income from the Eleanor and Frank Freed Foundation.
This tour has been organized by the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.
Support for the national tour has been generously provided by Bank of America.
Generous support provided by:
Susan and Fayez Sarofim
H-E-B
Tony Chase and Dina al Sowayel
Joyce Z. Greenberg
Ellen S. Susman
Jay Jones and Terry Wayne Jones
Merinda Watkins-Martin and Reginald Martin
Reginald and Paula DesRoches; Al and Kim Odom; and Barron and Lisa Wallace