The Obama Presidential Center officially opens in two weeks. And when it does, you’ll be able to check out what’ll likely be one of its most popular attractions without ever entering a building there.
A 1,200-lb bronze sculpture that memorializes former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama’s historic walk down crowd-lined Pennsylvania Avenue on Inauguration Day in 2009 stands on the center’s entry plaza, right outside the front door of the Museum Tower.
The waving Obamas have already become a thirst trap for selfies and other photo-takers. During my visit to the center last week, people were touching the sculpture, shaking its hands and posing for pictures in front of it.
The piece was created by StudioEIS, a 50-year-old Brooklyn sculpture and design company. Their presidential work includes a striding John F. Kennedy at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., a Thomas Jefferson statue at the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond and a seated Franklin D. Roosevelt for the National WWII Museum in New Orleans.
“We just thought that President Obama was a young and vigorous president, and therefore, the photographs of the Obamas walking down Pennsylvania Avenue seemed a kind of fitting image that would endure for a very long time,” StudioEIS founder and Director Ivan Schwartz said.
The firm pored over hundreds of Inauguration Day photos supplied by the Obama Foundation, looking for ones that were “a suitable interpretation” of the historic moment, Schwartz said.
The sculpture captures the couple in motion, holding hands and smiling at the throngs.
StudioEIS artists nailed the details, such as the waves in Barack Obama’s close-cropped hair — the president’s fresh cut that day came courtesy of his long-time Hyde Park barber, Zariff — and Michelle’s stylish sheath dress and matching coat, created by fashion designer Isabel Toledo who died in 2019.
“The Obamas left office not that long ago [and are] still front and center in people’s minds,” Schwartz said. “If we don’t come within the tiniest margin of getting it absolutely right in terms of the representation, then we have failed. And so there really is that burden.”
And the figures are a bit larger than life. An Obama Foundation spokesperson said the bronze figures are about 6 inches taller than the first couple’s actual heights.
That would make their figures about 6’7″ and 6’5″. The highest point of the sculpture is Michelle Obama’s raised hand, which is 6’9″ from the work’s base to her fingertip.
The size makes sure the sculpture doesn’t get visually lost as it sits on the large plaza next to the 225-foot Museum Tower.
“I’ve seen the photographs,” Schwartz said. “I think it was the right decision.”
Catherine Moylan Mini was among the hundreds who have visited the center, during a series of soft openings that began last month.
She was enthralled enough with the sculpture to give it a high-five and a hug. She and her husband, Mike, posted the images on social media.
“I was so pleased the scale allowed me to give Michelle Obama a high-five,” Mini said. “I went over to President Obama and gave the sculpture a high-five [and] the spirit moved me to hug him around the waist.”
Schwartz said that kind of interaction with the sculpture is expected and wanted — even if it will eventually wear the dark patina off the bronze.
“This happens when people love touching these things,” he said. “And one day we’ll get a call saying, ‘Hey, you need to come out here and restore this. So many people have touched this and the feet have been rubbed [and it’s] looking like a copper penny.'”