President and Mrs. Obama view their first joint portrait with artist Njideka Akunyili Crosby on June 14, 2026, in the Hope and Change Lobby of the Obama Presidential Center’s museum building. | Courtesy Obama Foundation
DAYS BEFORE the Obama Presidential Center is scheduled to open in Chicago, Ill., the Obama Foundation unveiled the first official joint portrait of President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. The large-scale mixed media painting by Los Angeles-based artist Njideka Akunyili Crosby (b. 1983) memorializes the couple’s historic journey with personal references, historic symbols, and cultural touchstones. The commissioned portrait is on display in the Hope and Change Lobby of the Obama Presidential Center’s museum building.
“The Obamas: Springing Forth” (2026) was revealed on June 14, when the Obamas viewed the painting for the first time. The portrait captures the Obamas side-by-side in an interior space that loosely resembles the composition of the Oval Office in the White House. President Obama is perched on a desk in a dark blue suit and Mrs. Obama, wearing a deep ocean blue floral print dress with t-strap heels, is sitting close by in an arm chair.
Based on a photograph Akunyili Crosby took of the Obamas, the narrative portrait combines colored pencil and charcoal with photo transfers. The work is infused with meaningful images and symbols from throughout their lives, from childhood to the White House and their post-Presidential years. Most prominently, a picture window in the background looks out on an image of the two-family home on Euclid Avenue where Mrs. Obama grew up on the South Side of Chicago. The top shelf of the étagère to the right of the window features a basketball, one of five Emmy Awards the couple has won, and a framed photo of their daughters Malia and Sasha, when they were young.
“We’ve just got to soak it in,” President Obama said. Then he asked Akunyili Crosby how she made the portrait. “What was your sequence?” he said.
She explained, “I did the drawing first of the two of you. We read all of your books. We listened to all the interviews you all have done, podcasts and videos. My whole studio got to know you. I wanted to make these decisions that tapped into those memories. So when you saw this, it felt familiar.” In response, Obama said, “Well, it looks fantastic.”
NJIDEKA AKUNYILI CROSBY, “The Obamas: Springing Forth,” 2026 (acrylic, colored pencils, charcoal, and transfers on paper; Unframed: 108 x 120 inches. Framed: 115 1/8 x 127 5/16 x 3 5/16 inches (HWD). | © Njideka Akunyili Crosby. Courtesy the artist, Victoria Miro, and David Zwirner. Commissioned by The Obama Foundation. Photo: Marten Elder. Courtesy The Obama Foundation
THE OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTER is a 19.3-acre campus sited within Jackson Park on the South Side of Chicago. Construction began after the groundbreaking in 2021. Five years later, the $850 million center is set to open this week with an official opening ceremony on June 18. The following day, the center will mark Juneteenth (June 19) by welcoming the public for the first time.
Reimagining the traditional Presidential library, the Obama Presidential Center was envisioned as a community resource and global nexus for change. The campus features public plazas and a variety of programming, gathering, and creative spaces, including the towering museum building where the portrait of the Obamas is exhibited, an auditorium, restaurant, athletic facility, recording studio, fruit and vegetable garden, and a branch of the Chicago Public Library.
Original artworks are central to the visitor experience at the center. Commissions by more than 30 artists have been announced previously. The list includes Lindsay Adams, Mark Bradford, María Magdalena Campos-Pons, Nekisha Durrett, Theaster Gates, Jeffrey Gibson, Jenny Holzer, Richard Hunt, Rashid Johnson, Idris Khan, Maya Lin, Julie Mehretu, Hugo McCloud, Martin Puryear, Alison Saar, Lorna Simpson, Kiki Smith, Norman Teague, Carrie Mae Weems, Nick Cave and Marie Watt, among others. Akunyili Crosby is the latest addition to the impressive group. The commissions are organized by Virginia Shore, who serves as curator of the Obama Presidential Center Art Commissions.
Nigeria-born, Los Angeles-based artist Njideka Akunyili Crosby said she wanted her joint portrait of the Obamas to tap into their memories, so that when they saw it, “it felt familiar.” She added that “it was an honor” to make the portrait. | Courtesy Obama Foundation
AKUNYILI CROSBY is a critically acclaimed, award-winning Nigerian American artist whose work explores post-Colonial identity. Her accolades include a residency at the Studio Museum in Harlem (2011-12), the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s James Dicke Contemporary Artist Prize (2014), and the Studio Museum’s Joyce Alexander Wien Artist Prize (2015). Akunyili Crosby’s work is among the most expensive by a Black artist at auction, with her current record standing at more than $3 million.
The artist’s multifaceted paintings are infused with personal narrative, including her memories of growing up in Nigeria and contemporary experiences in America. The works are densely layered in terms of both format and meaning. Defined by a rigorous array of photo-transferred images, she sources family photographs, traditional printed fabrics, and African fashion magazines. Her interpretations of ordinary scenes and intimate moments challenge conventions of representation and present a counter-narrative to stereotypical perceptions about the lives of contemporary Africans.
For the Obamas, Akunyili Crosby used the same personal approach, conducting research to gain a deep understanding of their individual personas and public profiles. The portrait draws on a variety of archives, including family photographs and historical ephemera, which have been infused into the works using the artist’s signature photo transfer method. In addition to reflecting the arc of the Obamas’s lives, the images also recognize Chicago landmarks; important political, civil rights, and cultural figures; and friends and family.
The tiny images come together in a wallpaper-style format represented throughout the painting on the rear wall, rug, and window frame, and within other key features such as the table top, plants, the Obamas’s clothing, and the architectural elements of Mrs. Obama’s childhood home. The tiny images also show up on the couple’s skin, in a manner similar to henna tattoos, along Mrs. Obama’s arms and the President’s left hand.
President and Mrs. Obama with artist Njideka Akunyili Crosby, who made their first commissioned joint portrait, in the Hope and Change Lobby of The Obama Presidential Center Museum. | Courtesy Obama Foundation
Many other symbolic references can be seen throughout the portrait, including significant books, a framed photograph of the 1963 March on Washington, Grammy awards, and charms the President received from constituents over the years. The edge of the desk features the same carved relief pattern found on the Resolute Desk President Obama used in the Oval Office. A bust of Martin Luther King Jr. by Harlem Renaissance artist Charles Alston (1907-1977), which was on view in the Oval Office during his tenure, is also featured.
The Obama Foundation announcement also noted the appearance and significance of the cover of Stevie Wonder’s album Talking Book (1972). The album was the first Mrs. Obama owned, a gift from her grandfather Pernell Shields. The Obamas also danced to the album at their 1992 wedding.
In the portrait, the Obamas are framed by plantings, including a selection of foliage and vegetables that hold particular meaning for the Obamas—coral hibiscus, torch ginger, petunia, plumeria, and okra—sprouting from a ceramic vase inspired by vessels made by David Drake. The incredible work of the legendary 18th century potter and poet who was enslaved in Edgefield, S.C., has been recognized in recent years by museums, curators, historians, and collectors, as well as auction houses.
“It’s us. And all the stories within the story.…You got everything in there,” Mrs. Obama said. “It’s beautiful.”
Access to the Obama Presidential Center campus and various amenities is free, however entry for the museum is $30 for adults. “The Obamas: Springing Forth,” Akunyili Crosby’s joint portrait of the Obamas is on view in the museum’s Hope and Change Lobby, a public space that does not require a ticket. CT
READ MORE about works by Julie Mehretu and Lindsay Adams commissioned for the Obama Presidential Center on Culture Type
READ MORE about the role of art and culture during President Obama’s White House years, the art the Obamas displayed in the family spaces of the White House, and the installation of “Resurrection” by Alma Thomas, the first Black female artist to have her work enter the White House Collection on Culture Type
NJIDEKA AKUNYILI CROSBY, Installation view of “The Obamas: Springing Forth,” 2026 (acrylic, colored pencils, charcoal, and transfers on paper; Unframed: 108 x 120 inches; Framed: 115 1/8 x 127 5/16 x 3 5/16 inches (HWD). | © Njideka Akunyili Crosby. Courtesy the artist, Victoria Miro, and David Zwirner. Commissioned by The Obama Presidential Center. Courtesy Obama Foundation
President and Mrs. Obama approach for the first time their first joint portrait by Njideka Akunyili Crosby on June 14, 2026, in the Hope and Change Lobby of the Obama Presidential Center’s museum building. | Courtesy Obama Foundation
President and Mrs. Obama greet commissioned artist Njideka Akunyili Crosby on June 14, 2026, in the Hope and Change Lobby of the Obama Presidential Center’s museum building. Mrs. Obama said: “Do you know how long I have been wanting this woman to do something with and for me? I mean, we did it!” Crosby replied: “It was an honor.” | Courtesy Obama Foundation
NJIDEKA AKUNYILI CROSBY, Detail of “The Obamas: Springing Forth,” 2026 (acrylic, colored pencils, charcoal, and transfers on paper; Unframed: 108 x 120 inches; Framed: 115 1/8 x 127 5/16 x 3 5/16 inches (HWD). | © Njideka Akunyili Crosby. Courtesy of the artist, Victoria Miro, and David Zwirner. Commissioned by The Obama Presidential Center. Photo: Marten Elder, Courtesy Obama Foundation
NJIDEKA AKUNYILI CROSBY, Detail of “The Obamas: Springing Forth,” 2026 (acrylic, colored pencils, charcoal, and transfers on paper; Unframed: 108 x 120 inches; Framed: 115 1/8 x 127 5/16 x 3 5/16 inches (HWD). | © Njideka Akunyili Crosby. Courtesy of the artist, Victoria Miro, and David Zwirner. Commissioned by The Obama Presidential Center. Photo: Marten Elder, Courtesy Obama Foundation
President and Mrs. Obama view their first joint portrait with artist Njideka Akunyili Crosby on June 14, 2026, in the Hope and Change Lobby of the Obama Presidential Center’s museum building. | Courtesy Obama Foundation
President and Mrs. Obama view their first joint portrait with artist Njideka Akunyili Crosby on June 14, 2026, in the Hope and Change Lobby of the Obama Presidential Center’s museum building. | Courtesy Obama Foundation
NJIDEKA AKUNYILI CROSBY, Detail of “The Obamas: Springing Forth,” 2026 (acrylic, colored pencils, charcoal, and transfers on paper; Unframed: 108 x 120 inches; Framed: 115 1/8 x 127 5/16 x 3 5/16 inches (HWD). | © Njideka Akunyili Crosby. Courtesy of the artist, Victoria Miro, and David Zwirner. Commissioned by The Obama Presidential Center. Photo: Marten Elder, Courtesy Obama Foundation
NJIDEKA AKUNYILI CROSBY, Detail of “The Obamas: Springing Forth,” 2026 (acrylic, colored pencils, charcoal, and transfers on paper; Unframed: 108 x 120 inches; Framed: 115 1/8 x 127 5/16 x 3 5/16 inches (HWD). | © Njideka Akunyili Crosby. Courtesy of the artist, Victoria Miro, and David Zwirner. Commissioned by The Obama Presidential Center. Photo: Marten Elder, Courtesy Obama Foundation
President and Mrs. Obama view their first joint portrait by commissioned artist Njideka Akunyili Crosby on June 14, 2026, in the Hope and Change Lobby of the Obama Presidential Center’s museum building. | Courtesy Obama Foundation
President and Mrs. Obama view their first joint portrait with artist Njideka Akunyili Crosby on June 14, 2026, in the Hope and Change Lobby of the Obama Presidential Center’s museum building. | Courtesy Obama Foundation
