{"id":2059,"date":"2026-06-18T20:37:40","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T20:37:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2059"},"modified":"2026-06-18T20:37:40","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T20:37:40","slug":"take-a-look-inside-the-obama-presidential-center-opening-this-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2059","title":{"rendered":"Take a look inside the Obama Presidential Center, opening this weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The South Side of Chicago was home to words of prayer, melodies sung by famous musicians and addresses from public leaders to mark Thursday\u2019s grand opening of the Obama Presidential Center. <\/p>\n

Read more Utah moves forward with $30 million Book Cliffs land transaction<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThis center is not a traditional museum, nor is today a traditional ribbon-cutting,\u201d said Valerie Jarrett, CEO of The Obama Foundation, at the opening celebration. <\/p>\n

The eight-story tower, with a shape inspired by four hands coming together, is the first fully digital museum of its kind. But that\u2019s not the only thing that makes the museum unique. Just ask those who anticipate playing on the center\u2019s NBA-regulation-sized basketball court, tasting a strawberry from the rooftop garden or sitting behind the president\u2019s desk in a replica of the Oval Office, which contains a letter from Barack Obama\u2019s predecessor, George W. Bush, as well as Obama\u2019s BlackBerry phone. <\/p>\n

The museum\u2019s exhibits: From campaign buttons to cutting-edge interactive experiences<\/h3>\n

The Obama Presidential Center, located in Chicago, where former first lady Michelle Obama grew up and the former president got his start as a political organizer, features several exhibits honoring the campaign and presidency of Barack Obama. <\/p>\n

Notable exhibits include 440 different buttons from Obama\u2019s campaigns, a dozen mannequins showcasing Michelle Obama\u2019s dresses and the eighth-floor \u201cSky Room\u201d that looks out over Chicago\u2019s South Side. The room is meant to be a place where visitors can go to quietly contemplate and admire iconic commissioned art. <\/p>\n

Unlike other presidential museums, the Obama Presidential Center Museum is fully digital \u2014 no official papers are on display. Instead, visitors interact with hands-on exhibits that tell the story of Obama\u2019s campaigns, presidency and life living in the White House. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Obama Presidential Center Museum has a variety of immersive media in it. Everything from soundscapes to large-scale projected films to digital art,\u201d said Sara Pasch, director of integrated media at the Obama Presidential Center Museum. \u201cDigital interactives give visitors the opportunity to participate in the story and have that back and forth. It\u2019s consistent with the way that President Obama used those tools himself.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of these high-tech exhibits, \u201cPower of Words,\u201d is an 88-foot wall with a screen that shows film, visual art and text to tell the story of the Obama presidency. <\/p>\n

This exhibit isn\u2019t the only large-scale structure made to honor the former president. The exterior of the museum features a quote from the famous \u201cYou Are America\u201d speech Obama delivered in 2015. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt begins with, \u2018You are American,\u2019 and it ends with, \u2018nation of ours.\u2019 I think that very much speaks to this idea of going from me to we,\u201d said Billie Tsien, one of the building\u2019s architects. <\/p>\n

Obamas say the center is made to be more than a museum<\/h3>\n

Outside the museum itself, the 20-acre campus includes free public resources for residents in the Chicago community. <\/p>\n

The center\u2019s branch of the Chicago Public Library is home to 3,500 book titles personally selected by the Obama family. <\/p>\n

An NBA-regulation basketball court, named \u201cHome Court,\u201d is available for recreational use. <\/p>\n

Dozens of garden beds in the Eleanor Roosevelt Fruit and Vegetable Garden feature local plants and native vegetables. <\/p>\n

The playground and Great Lawn provide spaces for children and families to play outdoors. <\/p>\n

Read more A parent\u2019s guide to Trump Accounts<\/a><\/p>\n

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Chicago, it\u2019s good to be home!<\/p>\n

Michelle and I built the Obama Presidential Center to be a place where people of all ages can learn, play, and work \u2013 and we can’t wait to welcome you all later this week! pic.twitter.com\/wQBUwy4zT6<\/p>\n

\u2014 Barack Obama (@BarackObama) June 15, 2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cTo my fellow South Siders, I want you all to make this campus a part of your lives,\u201d Michelle Obama said at the grand opening. <\/p>\n

\u201cBe inspired by the world-class art. Check out the books from our beautiful public library \u2014 and bring them back on time. Drop some beats in the recording studio. Hit some corner 3s at Home Court. Hold birthday parties. Jump-start clothing drives. Host citywide cleanup days here. Use this campus to show off this place we call home.\u201d<\/p>\n

As many as 1 million people are expected to use the free amenities each year, and 600,000 annual visitors are projected for the admission-based museum. <\/p>\n

5 fun facts about the Obama Presidential Center<\/h3>\n

Fun fact No. 1: <\/b>The museum\u2019s 225-foot-tall tower and 20-acre campus cost $850 million to build. The initial estimate was $350 million. Funding was provided by The Obama Foundation.<\/p>\n

Fun fact No. 2:<\/b> Bo and Sunny, the Obama family\u2019s dogs at the White House, have their own exhibit in the museum where children can run their fingers across textures made to mimic the dog\u2019s fur. <\/p>\n

Fun fact No. 3:<\/b> The campus features 28 commissioned works of art from 30 different artists. <\/p>\n

Fun fact No. 4:<\/b> Tickets to the museum are $30, the most expensive of any U.S. presidential museum or library. This price is just ahead of the $29 tickets at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library Museum in California. <\/p>\n

Fun fact No. 5:<\/b> Obama tested out one of the playground slides himself in May. (He said it was \u201cfantastic\u201d but that he was a little tall for it.)<\/p>\n

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A place to learn, a place to play, and a place to belong. <\/p>\n

President Obama and CEO of the Obama Foundation Valerie Jarrett recently marveled at our whimsical playground \u2014 full of oversized animal structures and world class play equipment \u2014 and reflected on how our on-site branch\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/CpOuv90fAa<\/p>\n

\u2014 The Obama Foundation (@ObamaFoundation) May 30, 2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u2018It\u2019s never been for us\u2019<\/h3>\n

In their speeches at the center\u2019s grand opening, both Barack and Michelle Obama said the museum is about more than them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe exhibits here focus not just on policies, but on the shared values that make democracy possible,\u201d Barack Obama said at the opening ceremony. <\/p>\n

The museum is meant to honor both the American people and American values, not just the presidency, the Obamas said. <\/p>\n

\u201cBarack and I have always said that this center is grounded in our stories, but it has never been about us,\u201d Michelle Obama said. \u201cIt\u2019s never been for us. And it\u2019s going to be here long after we\u2019re gone. So what it becomes and how it\u2019s preserved, that work has to be done by all of us, just like our democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Utah awaits $2.4B rail expansion decision, but it\u2019s not the only transit opportunity<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The museum\u2019s exhibits are revolutionary, but that\u2019s not the only thing that makes it one of a kind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2058,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nTake a look inside the Obama Presidential Center, opening this weekend - American Movers Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2059\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Take a look inside the Obama Presidential Center, opening this weekend - American Movers Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The museum\u2019s exhibits are revolutionary, but that\u2019s not the only thing that makes it one of a kind.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2059\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"American Movers Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-18T20:37:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=2059#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=2059\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b68c8483906c0d2987f271455f0177af\"},\"headline\":\"Take a look inside the Obama Presidential Center, opening this weekend\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-18T20:37:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=2059\"},\"wordCount\":1082,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=2059#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/8b0905f65ff488688272c117247268e4.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=2059#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=2059\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=2059\",\"name\":\"Take a look inside the Obama Presidential Center, opening this weekend - 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