Updated June 15, 2026
On Sunday, June 14, the Obama Presidential Center unveiled the first official portrait of President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama together, by Njideka Akunyili Crosby.
This landmark commission will be on view in the main lobby of the museum at the Obama Presidential Center, which opens in Chicago this coming Friday on Juneteenth. The portrait weaves together archival imagery, family albums, historical ephemera, and cultural touchstones. Densely layered and rich with biographical detail, the work honors the Obamas’ legacy while connecting it to the many generations of artists, activists, citizens, and leaders whose collective journeys helped pave their way to the White House.
Njideka Akunyilil Crosby, The Obamas: Springing Forth, 2026. © Njideka Akunyili Crosby. Commissioned by The Obama Foundation. Photo: Marten Elder
This first dual portrait of the Obamas depicts them as both public figures and people with layered private lives. Using her signature photo-transfer technique, Akunyili Crosby incorporates images significant to the couple and those from our shared cultural memory. Rich detail situates the Obamas’ public lives within the personal histories that shaped them: a window frames the scene, its arches echoing the Oval Office, while the view centers Mrs. Obama’s childhood home, her father’s Buick parked out front.
Rendering of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. Courtesy The Obama Foundation
Akunyili Crosby joins a group of artists creating major site-specific works whose work is central to the Center’s vision of civic engagement, including María Magdalena Campos-Pons, Jeffrey Gibson, Rashid Johnson, Hugo McCloud, Martin Puryear, Lorna Simpson, and Norman Teague. The artist commissions are curated by Virginia Shore, Curator of the Obama Presidential Center Art Commissions.
Learn more about the commissions and the Presidential Center at obama.org.
Learn more about Njideka Akunyili Crosby.
