{"id":131779,"date":"2026-06-03T23:01:41","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T05:01:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/presidential-museum-showcases-political-and-personal-sides-of-obama-with-sprawling-community-camp\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T23:01:41","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T05:01:41","slug":"presidential-museum-showcases-political-and-personal-sides-of-obama-with-sprawling-community-camp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/presidential-museum-showcases-political-and-personal-sides-of-obama-with-sprawling-community-camp\/","title":{"rendered":"Presidential museum showcases political and personal sides of Obama with sprawling community campus"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The
The Obama Presidential Center is seen Thursday, April 9, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo\/Erin Hooley)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Erin Hooley)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

CHICAGO (AP) \u2014 Former President Barack Obama\u2019s influence in his presidential museum runs deep, from the location on Chicago’s South Side to textured stone adorning its dramatic tower<\/a> to striped reading chairs that are similar to ones in his own home.<\/p>\n

The Obama Presidential Center<\/a> opens to the general public on Juneteenth after a celebratory dedication in Chicago with dignitaries. But tens of thousands of people \u2014 friends and family of museum staff, students and journalists \u2014 have already been offered a sneak peek at the nearly 20-acre campus as crews finish final art installations and landscaping.<\/p>\n

The roughly $850 million project covers both the political and personal realms of the nation\u2019s first Black president. Campaign memorabilia and presidential artifacts are displayed in the admission-based museum tower while public spaces of the sprawling campus feature other things important to Obama: a new library, basketball court and picnic area with grills.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a safe space for people to come and, yes, reflect on the historic moments of this presidency and the campaigns, but also to come together as a community to think about what change you can bring to your own neighborhood,\u201d Josh Harris, the Obama Foundation\u2019s vice president of public engagement, said during a recent tour with The Associated Press.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a closer look at the top attractions of the campus expected to draw as many as 1 million visitors annually.<\/p>\n

President for a day<\/strong><\/p>\n

Obama’s presidential museum will be the first fully digital museum of its kind, ditching scores of official papers on display.<\/p>\n

Instead, visitors will experience high-tech and hands-on exhibits spanning the campaigns, key moments of Obama’s presidency and life at the White House.<\/p>\n

One of the largest attractions is a life-sized replica of the Oval Office.<\/p>\n

On a recent day, a stream of visitors, including school children, walked through the circular room, stopping to sit behind the desk and pose for pictures. The top drawer holds a copy of a hand-written letter from predecessor former President George W. Bush and Obama\u2019s beloved BlackBerry phone.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to make sure that people from all walks of life have the opportunity sit behind the Resolute Desk,\u201d said Harris. \u201cYou think about the possibilities that if a young organizer from the South Side of Chicago can be president, you can be president too.<\/p>\n

Other sections of the museum detail the Affordable Care Act, immigration policies along with smaller moments like when Obama unexpectedly sang during a 2015 eulogy for those killed in a South Carolina church shooting. A large television screen plays a clip of Obama singing \u201cAmazing Grace.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Peppered throughout are areas for personal reflection, which museum organizers say is key.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re passing that baton and inviting people to bring change home, however change may be defined, both small or large,\u201d said Louise Bernard, the museum’s director.<\/p>\n

Touching iconic ballgowns<\/strong><\/p>\n

When Obama touted the museum\u2019s contents at its groundbreaking in 2021, he predicted one of the top draws.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want this center to be more than a static museum or a source of archival research,\u201d Obama joked at the site. \u201cIt won\u2019t just be a collection of campaign memorabilia or Michelle\u2019s ballgowns, although I know everybody will come see those.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roughly a dozen outfits on mannequins are behind glass, including a black and red dress<\/a> designed by Narciso Rodriguez that the former first lady wore on Election Night in 2008 in Chicago.<\/p>\n

Visitors will also get a chance to touch swatches of the fabrics, including the rose gold chain mail Atelier Versace evening gown she wore at her final state dinner in 2016.<\/p>\n

Obama\u2019s personal touches<\/strong><\/p>\n

The museum\u2019s location is near where Barack Obama started his political career, taught law at the University of Chicago and where the family lived. Michelle Obama also grew up on the South Side.<\/p>\n

A life-long basketball lover, Obama sought a glass-paneled professional grade basketball court which will be used for community programs.<\/p>\n

The former first lady designed a garden, where lettuce and strawberry plants sprouted on a recent day. There\u2019s also charcoal grills that\u2019ll be available to the public, which Obama has envisioned since he first pitched the plan in community meetings nearly a decade ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cPresident Obama always talked about his feelings of being in Chicago and one of his memorable moments was grilling in the park,\u201d Harris said.<\/p>\n

The Obamas’ design tastes and love of history are also evident.<\/p>\n

The museum campus features dozens of commissioned works of art while different parts of the campus are named after prominent figures. The central \u201cJohn Lewis Plaza,\u201d named for the late congressman and civil rights leader<\/a>, is designed to be a public gathering spot.<\/p>\n

Inside a new Chicago Public Library branch, a 70-foot mural depicts literary figures including Walt Whitman and James Baldwin. At the center is a boy in an orange shirt being read to by Toni Morrison. He represents a young Obama.<\/p>\n

Its presidential reading room features thousands of books chosen by the Obamas, ranging from presidential biographies to best-selling fiction. One of Obama’s favorite parts are two high-backed chairs with blue, yellow and black stripes. They were selected by the former president as top-notch reading chairs similar to ones he has at home.<\/p>\n

Pricey admission with free options<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tickets are $30, the highest of any U.S. presidential museum or library. Next on the list is the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in California, where tickets are $29.<\/p>\n

Obama Foundation leaders say the prices are justified for the state-of-the-art facility.<\/p>\n

Tickets at the adjacent Griffin Museum of Science and Industry are $25.95. In downstate Illinois, tickets to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield run $15.<\/p>\n

Along with free days and discounts for Illinois residents, Obama Foundation officials also argue the most of the campus is free with only four floors of the museum tower requiring tickets.<\/p>\n

Anyone can walk the campus, use the playground, library, sledding hill or grilling area. The tower’s top floor, which feature panoramic views of the nation’s third-largest city, is also free.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea behind this institution, this campus, was to make it accessible to as many people as possible,\u201d Harris said.<\/p>\n

\"The
The Obama Presidential Center is seen Thursday, April 9, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo\/Erin Hooley)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Erin Hooley)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Obama Presidential Center is seen Thursday, April 9, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo\/Erin Hooley)(AP Photo\/Erin Hooley) CHICAGO (AP) \u2014 Former President Barack Obama\u2019s influence in his presidential museum runs deep, from the location on Chicago’s South Side to textured stone adorning its dramatic tower to striped reading chairs that are similar to ones in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":131780,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5734],"tags":[],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-131779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-associated-press"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131779\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131779"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=131779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}