A portrait of former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, was unveiled Monday ahead of the grand opening of the Obama Presidential Center on Friday.
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Mr. Obama wrote on Instagram that their first official joint portrait “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.”
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The painting, titled “The Obamas: Springing Forth,” was done by Los Angeles-based Nigerian-American artist Njideka Akunyili Crosby.
Mrs. Obama said in an Obama Foundation post on Instagram that Ms. Akunyili Crosby’s “artistic brilliance shines through — and the way she infused such life and joy into the piece is truly extraordinary.”
In the work, the Obamas are surrounded and partially covered by recreations of 3,000 images from their lives.
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“I was thinking of a composition that would not preference one [Obama] over the other but to treat them equally. It’s like, yes, he was the president and she is this incredible, powerful, amazing, super-respected person. They are, like, equal,” Ms. Akunyili Crosby said, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
The Obama Presidential Center is in Chicago, Mrs. Obama’s hometown and where Mr. Obama got his start in public service. The building will be dedicated Thursday.
While the National Archives will run Mr. Obama’s presidential papers, which will be digitized, the Obama Presidential Center will remain under the control of the Obama Foundation, as opposed to other presidential libraries run by the National Archives, according to USA Today.
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