America’s newest presidential center and library, located in Chicago and devoted to the legacy of Barack Obama, America’s 44th president, is a heavy hitter in the art department. Opening to the public June 19, the eight-story granite museum building, designed by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects, features major commissions by more than 30 artists, including stars such as Njideka Akunyili Crosby, whose portrait of the former First Couple has just been unveiled; it is the first official portrait of the Obamas. (They had individually commissioned portraits by Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald.)
Dominating a large atrium near the center’s entrance is a three-story-high mural by Mark Bradford in the form of a stylized aerial view-cum-topographical map of the City of the Big Shoulders. In the library, a huge mural by Aliza Nisenbaum pays tribute to some of the Windy City’s great literary figures.
There’s also a large wall installation by Jeffrey Gibson and a stained-glass window by Julie Mehretu, and on the grounds are sculptures by prominent artists like Martin Puryear and Alison Saar.
Here are five of the newest, biggest, and splashiest commissions that will greet the public when the center opens in a few days.
