Site-specific artworks on obama presidential center campus
The Obama Foundation has named the final group of commissioned artists for the Obama Presidential Center campus, set to open on June 19th, 2026, in Chicago. The artists in this group include Njideka Akunyili Crosby, María Magdalena Campos-Pons, Jeffrey Gibson, Rashid Johnson, Hugo McCloud, Martin Puryear, Lorna Simpson, and Norman Teague, their works joining the other artists already announced for the project. Each of them makes an art piece or sculpture for the site, allowing visitors to see them as exhibitions while they move through the building.
The artists contribute their own works for the Obama Presidential Center campus, starting with Njideka Akunyili Crosby creating a portrait of Barack Obama and Michelle Obama using the images from family albums, history, and public life. Her portrait shows links between the Obamas and other people, such as artists, leaders, and citizens, and her work is placed in the main lobby. There’s María Magdalena Campos-Pons, who presents an installation based on the White House garden, a work that includes plants, food, and flowers, as it connects to food, land, and memory. It also links to Michelle Obama’s work on healthy eating while showcasing how a garden can hold history and daily life.
Norman Teagues’ aProject a Black Planet: The Art and Culture of Panafrica exhibition | image courtesy of Norman Teague
Showcasing the lives of the obamas through art
Artist Jeffrey Gibson creates a wall work with 17 round prints, all of which refer to drums and badges used in social and political groups as an attempt to bring together sound, message, and group action. It also shows how people gather and share ideas, similar to Rashid Johnson’s mosaic called Broken Men, where it uses human forms to show different states of feeling and thought. The work asks people to think about shared human experience, soon to be placed in the Teaching Kitchen at the Obama Presidential Center campus venue.
Hugo McCloud makes a painting that maps places from Barack Obama’s life through layers of plastic and paint, illustrating how place and memory connect. With Martin Puryear, he presents a large sculpture in the plaza, the form coming from a long beam that bends. The work refers to a quote by Martin Luther King Jr. and the work of John Lewis, a hint that that change needs action from people. Lorna Simpson shows a work from her Ice series, a piece that includes images of ice and sky, with a print and paint on a hard surface. It connects space, time, and nature, and links inside space of the Obama Presidential Center campus with the outside landscape.
the exhibition gathers together some 350 objects, spanning the 1920s to the present | image courtesy of Norman Teague
Artworks linked to the community and city of chicago
There’s also Norman Teague, who creates eight wooden benches placed in the museum, made for sitting and rest. Across all these works, the theme of memory comes through as the works use images, objects, or places from the past, allowing the history to remain present in daily life. The works also link to Chicago, to the White House, and to other locations from the Obamas’ lives, resulting in the sense of community, as these works of art and design gather people together through benches, portraits, and public space. The Obama Presidential Center campus brings these works together, creating a space where people can steep themselves into the family and city’s rich histories.
Lorna Simpson, Tried by Fire (detail), 2017, courtesy of the artist and Hauser & Wirth. Installation views, Lorna Simpson. Third Person, 2026, Punta della Dogana, Venezia. Ph. James Wang © Palazzo Grassi, Pinault Collection
Big Bling, 2016, Martin Puryear | image courtesy of Matthew Marks Gallery
Secrets of the Magnolia Tree. Bernice, 2022, María Magdalena Campos-Pons | image courtesy of Gallery Wendi Norris
Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Roundabout, 2025, © Njideka Akunyili Crosby, courtesy of the artist, Victoria Miro, and David Zwirner | photo by Marten Elder
view of the Obama Presidential Center outside | image courtesy of Obama Foundation
project info:
artists: Njideka Akunyili Crosby, María Magdalena Campos-Pons, Jeffrey Gibson, Rashid Johnson, Hugo McCloud, Martin Puryear, Lorna Simpson, Norman Teague
center: Obama Presidential Center | @obamafoundation
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