The Obama Presidential Center Museum, set in Chicago's Jackson Park, is scheduled to open to the public on Juneteenth 2026. Its four exhibition levels cover nearly 35,000 square feet and are designed by Ralph Appelbaum Associates, with media and interactive production by batwin + robin Productions. The Museum's subject is the story of President and Mrs. Obama — described in the project material as America's first Black president and First Lady — told through the themes of history, democracy, public service and the capacity of people to create change.
A four-level civic journey
Visitors move through four major exhibition levels: Toward a More Perfect Union, Working for the Common Good, The People's House and We the People. The sequence begins with the nation's founding ideals and unfinished work, passes through the people, movements, policies, challenges and accomplishments associated with the Obama presidency, and ends with civic questions the material frames as urgent for today and tomorrow. The galleries rely on artifacts, large-scale and immersive media, storytelling, and hands-on digital and analog interactives, presenting democracy as a living practice shaped by ordinary people working together.
Exhibition highlights
- Power of Words — an 88-foot-tall media canvas combining speech, sound, image, poetry and art to show how words can move people toward change.
- Toward a More Perfect Union — an illuminated, prismatic opening gallery linking founding ideals and contradictions to the people and movements that pushed American democracy toward greater justice and inclusion.
- Yes We Can Campaign gallery — a circular room with a panoramic media installation of volunteer voices and crowd-sourced campaign objects, built around the 2008 grassroots movement.
- Democracy 101 — a hands-on civics exhibit that uses interactive experiences to build knowledge, confidence and participation.
- Panorama of a Presidency — a media room that surrounds visitors with a behind-the-scenes view of the activities and places that make up the daily work of the presidency.
- Life in the White House — detailed miniature White House rooms alongside artifacts, including fashion, state gifts and sports memorabilia, showing how the Obamas opened the residence through traditions, celebrations, performances and public programs.
Art, interaction and access
Imagine Your Impact runs as a recurring interactive thread across all levels and culminates in a shared media experience built around a large-scale digital art commission, inviting visitors to see how individual actions combine into collective change. Contemporary artwork is woven through the building: Norman Teague designed custom benches, and commissioned works by Jeffrey Gibson, Jules Julien and María Magdalena Campos-Pons add visual expressions of identity and hope. Inclusive design is described as foundational: tactile stations and replicas, captioning, ASL interpretation, audio description, assistive listening, clear wayfinding and participation opportunities are intended to support visitors of all ages and abilities.
A broader narrative
The exhibits place the Obamas' journey inside a wider American civic narrative rooted in the South Side of Chicago, shaped by national and global movements for justice, and carried forward by people working in their own communities, including participants in the Obama Foundation's Global Programs. The stated aim is that visitors leave with a deeper understanding of the Obamas' legacy and a renewed sense of their own agency in the ongoing work of democracy.