The Obama Presidential Center is full of intriguing juxtapositions, starting with its address.
The site in tribute to the country’s first Black president sits on parkland named after a former slave owning president.
Democracy is the throughline in museum exhibitions and programming, even as the nonpartisan organization behind the complex, the Obama Foundation, remains mum about the current White House administration and distances itself from weighing in on electoral politics.
But the sprawling campus on South Stony Island Avenue in Jackson Park debuts at a time when democracy is blatantly under threat. And while a museum touting democracy may feel insufficient for young people piloting through perilous times, Obama Foundation CEO Valerie Jarrett said Wednesday in a press preview that a sense of discovery awaits them.
“They’ll discover that ordinary people have the capability to do extraordinary things if they put their mind to it, through the stories that we tell of the history of our country, which has been really challenging at times,” said Jarrett sitting in kitchen classroom near the Eleanor Roosevelt fruit and vegetable garden and a Rashid Johnson mosaic in the background.
The garden is one of several features on a site anchored by community play spaces, a hoops center and a museum that covers social movements.
“We’ve always had a very strong North Star in terms of our mission, which is to inspire, empower, and connect people to change their world,” said Louise Bernard, museum director. “One of the takeaways we often reference is this idea of what it means to bring change home. So the center is really a hub that draws people in and then sends them out.”
Instead of Barack Obama’s journey to Chicago or Michelle Obama’s glamorous dresses — upper museum floors dive into those narratives — the story begins with America as a work in progress. Contradictions of the Founding Fathers and democracy as an ambitious radical experiment first greet visitors. Questions prompt guests to consider freedom, rights and class. Words from abolitionist/suffragist Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, the Cherokee Nation and labor leader Dolores Huerta underscore the unfilled promises of the nation.
“History is not a static thing. It is always in motion and we ourselves are change makers in the shaping of that history,” Bernard said. “We want our visitors to think about their powerful relationship to civic engagement and how they can continue the story that we are sharing about this particular president as part of a historical continuum.”
As the 250th anniversary of the county nears, Jarrett said this is an opportunity to take a step back and look at progress and what’s left to do.
“We talk about not just the Declaration of Independence, but slavery, not just the end of the Civil War, but Reconstruction, the Civil Rights Movement, the suffrage movement, the immigrant rights movement,” Jarrett said. “All of those movements were led by young people. We want young people to come here and feel this sense of hope and the infinite possibility.”
“We tell not just the successes of the Obama Administration but areas where we didn’t make the progress that we wanted to make, and that’s the nature of democracy, too,” she said. Those areas are gun control after the Sandy Hook massacre, comprehensive immigration reform and removing mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenders.
Over the last decade, the Obamas articulated a steadfast urban vision for the South Side. The 19-acre campus is free to the public. It features gardens and winding walking paths, grills and benches designed by students at Simeon Career Academy. Community members suggested a new Chicago Public Library branch and now there’s one. The former first lady grew up in nearby South Shore and lamented the lack of sledding; the playground area at OPC offers a sledding hill. She also pointed out the lack of public art, so OPC commissioned 28 pieces by some of the biggest contemporary art names: Richard Hunt, Carrie Mae Weems, Alison Saar and Julie Mehretu.
“We think about that relationship between art and health and wellness, the visceral impact that art can have on the body. It’s very calming,” Bernard said.
Among those works is Weems’ “The Cool Blue Wind,” a photographic collage with blue tonal overlays.
“Art is the creative expression of our imaginations and our feelings. It is the expressive part of culture, the expressive part of ideas, and it’s not just about now, but it’s about always,” Weems said. The piece’s first image is from the 54th regiment that fought in the Civil War. The end is a group of young people dancing during the Civil Rights Movement.
“In between is a suite of ideas,” Weems said. “For me the piece is joyous and spontaneous and warm and inviting and welcoming and celebratory — and that’s ultimately what democracy is. Democracy is an ongoing business; it is not something that is finished or finite. It is changing daily, and so you work for it daily.”
Mark Bradford’s stunning City of the Big Shoulders is a 34-foot-tall piece of artwork across multiple levels. The vibrant color palette maps the South Side, including nods to the Great Migration and beauty of Lake Michigan. The verdant soul of Jackson Park sparkles, a reminder to all that the land is more than its namesake.
