Multiple things at once, layered like memory itself
On the eve of Juneteenth, a Nigerian-born artist whose life bridges Lagos and Los Angeles has been entrusted with the most intimate of cultural tasks: rendering the faces of Barack and Michelle Obama for the institution built to carry their legacy forward. Njideka Akunyili Crosby, a MacArthur Fellow whose layered canvases have long explored what it means to belong to two worlds at once, unveiled the official portrait for the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago — a work that will greet every visitor who crosses the threshold of the Hope and Change lobby. In choosing her, the Obama Foundation made a quiet but consequential statement about who gets to shape American memory, and whose vision of America is worth preserving.
- A major American presidential institution has placed its most visible artwork in the hands of a Nigerian-born artist, signaling a deliberate reckoning with who tells the story of Black American leadership.
- The portrait debuts just days before the Obama Presidential Center opens on Juneteenth — a date whose weight as a symbol of freedom and unfinished history charges the unveiling with additional meaning.
- Akunyili Crosby's signature technique — layering paint, collage, drawing, and photographic transfer drawn from personal Nigerian archives — transforms a formal commission into something intimate and diasporic.
- Both Obamas responded with rare personal warmth, with Michelle calling the work 'vibrant and joyful' and Barack framing it as a portrait of shared chapters in their lives, not merely a likeness.
- The commission lands as evidence of a broader institutional shift: American cultural memory is increasingly being shaped by artists whose own stories complicate and expand what it means to be American.
Njideka Akunyili Crosby, a Nigerian-born, Los Angeles-based artist, has unveiled the official portrait of Barack and Michelle Obama for the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. The work will hang in the Hope and Change lobby — the first image visitors encounter upon entering — and becomes part of the center's permanent collection when it opens on Juneteenth, June 19.
Crosby's selection was deliberate. A MacArthur Fellow since 2017, with work held at MoMA and the Whitney, she is an artist whose practice centers on identity, migration, and the experience of living between Nigeria and the United States. For the Obama Foundation, having America's first Black president and first lady portrayed by an artist whose own life straddles two cultures was not incidental — it was the point.
The portrait reflects her signature method: richly layered compositions that combine painting, drawing, collage, and photographic transfer, often drawing on personal archives of family photographs and Nigerian magazine clippings. Barack Obama described the finished work as capturing 'so many chapters of Michelle and my story.' Michelle called it 'vibrant and joyful,' expressing confidence that visitors would feel its warmth as immediately as she did.
Crosby's career has taken her to the Venice Biennale, the Istanbul Biennial, and the walls of leading institutions across two continents. This commission adds another dimension: she has now been entrusted with shaping how two of the most consequential figures in recent American history are seen and remembered. As the center prepares to open, the portrait stands as both an artistic milestone and a signal that American cultural institutions are increasingly turning to artists whose perspectives complicate — and deepen — the national story.
Njideka Akunyili Crosby, a Nigerian-born artist working in Los Angeles, has created the official portrait of Barack and Michelle Obama for the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. The work was unveiled this week, just days before the center opens its doors on Juneteenth, June 19. It will hang in the Hope and Change lobby, where it becomes part of the permanent collection—the first thing many visitors will see as they enter.
Crosby's commission places her among a select group of contemporary artists chosen by the Obama Foundation to produce site-specific works for the center. Her selection reflects both her standing in the art world and the deliberate choice to have America's first Black president and first lady represented by an artist whose own work grapples with questions of identity, migration, and cultural belonging. She is a MacArthur Fellow, having received the prestigious award in 2017, and her pieces are held in major collections including MoMA and the Whitney Museum of American Art.
The portrait itself emerges from Crosby's signature approach: a richly layered composition that blends painting, drawing, collage, and photographic transfer techniques. Her practice draws heavily on personal archives—family photographs, images she has taken in Nigeria, clippings from Nigerian magazines—to construct intricate visual narratives that examine what it means to live between two worlds. In this case, the work captures what Barack Obama described as "so many chapters of Michelle and my story," rendered through the sensibility of an artist whose own life bridges Nigeria and the United States.
Both Obamas responded with enthusiasm to the finished work. Barack Obama noted the significance of collaborating with Akunyili Crosby and emphasized that the portrait will be on permanent display starting on Juneteenth. Michelle Obama called the piece "vibrant and joyful," praising what she described as the artist's ability to infuse "such life and joy" into the composition. The former First Lady expressed confidence that visitors to the center would respond to it as warmly as they have.
Akunyili Crosby's career has been marked by sustained international recognition. She has exhibited at leading institutions across the United States and Europe, participated in major global exhibitions including the Venice Biennale and the Istanbul Biennial, and built a body of work that contemporary art institutions have deemed significant enough to acquire and preserve. This commission represents another milestone—a moment when an artist working at the intersection of Nigerian and American experience has been entrusted with shaping how one of the most consequential American political figures and his partner are remembered and presented to the public.
As the Obama Presidential Center prepares to welcome its first visitors, the portrait will serve a dual purpose: it is both an artistic landmark in its own right and a reflection of personal history filtered through the vision of one of contemporary art's most acclaimed practitioners. The work stands as evidence of a broader shift in how major American cultural institutions are choosing to tell their stories—not solely through established Western traditions, but through the perspectives of artists whose own narratives complicate and enrich what it means to be American.
Notable Quotes
This piece reflects so many chapters of Michelle and my story, and we're thrilled that it will be on display in the Hope and Change lobby at the Obama Presidential Center starting this Juneteenth.— Barack Obama
The way she infused such life and joy into the piece is truly extraordinary. We love it, and we think everyone who visits the Center will too.— Michelle Obama
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why commission a Nigerian-born artist for this particular portrait, rather than someone with deeper roots in American presidential portraiture traditions?
Because the Obamas' story itself is about expanding what American identity means. Crosby's work is built on exactly that question—how identity forms when you're moving between cultures, carrying multiple inheritances. That's not separate from their legacy; it's central to it.
What does her technique actually do that a traditional portrait wouldn't?
She layers things. Family photographs, magazine clippings, her own drawings—they all sit on top of each other, creating depth and texture. It's not a clean, singular image. It's more like how memory actually works, how identity actually works. Multiple things at once.
The portrait goes in the Hope and Change lobby. That's a deliberate placement, isn't it?
Completely. It's the first thing people see. It's saying: this is who we are, this is how we want to be seen. And it's saying it through an artist whose own work is about navigating between worlds. That's not accidental.
Does Crosby's MacArthur Fellowship matter here, or is that just credential-stacking?
It matters because it signals that this isn't a political favor. She's one of the most respected contemporary artists working right now. The Obamas could have chosen anyone. They chose someone whose artistic vision actually aligns with what they want to communicate.
What happens to the portrait after the center opens? Does it just hang there?
It becomes part of how millions of people encounter the Obamas' story. It's permanent. It shapes the visual memory of their presidency for everyone who walks through that door.