The Obama Presidential Center Museum in Chicago's Jackson Park is scheduled to open to the public on Juneteenth 2026, with nearly 35,000 square feet of exhibitions spread across four levels. The exhibition design is credited to Ralph Appelbaum Associates and batwin + robin Productions. The museum is intended to trace the lives and public service of President and Mrs. Obama while examining the broader workings of American democracy.
The visitor route is organized into four principal exhibition levels: Toward a More Perfect Union, Working for the Common Good, The People's House and We the People. The sequence begins with the country's founding ideals and unfinished history, moves through the people, movements, policies and challenges associated with the Obama presidency, and ends with contemporary civic questions. The museum combines artifacts, large-scale media, storytelling and both digital and analog interactives, presenting democracy as a living practice shaped by ordinary people working together.
Immersive media and campaign history
Among the featured installations is Power of Words, an 88-foot-tall media canvas that brings together speech, sound, imagery, poetry and art to show how language can mobilize action. The opening gallery, Toward a More Perfect Union, is described as an illuminated, prismatic space that links the nation's founding contradictions with the movements that have pressed for greater justice and inclusion.
A circular gallery devoted to the Yes We Can campaign uses a panoramic media installation with volunteer voices and crowd-sourced campaign objects to immerse visitors in the 2008 grassroots movement. Democracy 101, another hands-on civics exhibit, is designed to make democratic processes approachable, building visitors' knowledge, confidence and willingness to participate.
Inside the presidency and the White House
Panorama of a Presidency is a media room that surrounds visitors with views of the daily work of the presidency, including the many places and activities that make up the office. At a smaller scale, miniature White House rooms offer an intimate look at how the Obamas used traditions, celebrations, performances and public programs to open the residence. A collection of fashion, state gifts and sports memorabilia further illustrates how the Obamas sought to make the White House feel inclusive and reflective of American diversity.
Imagine Your Impact runs through all levels as a recurring interactive theme. It culminates in a shared media experience and a large-scale digital art commission that invites visitors to consider how individual actions can accumulate into collective change. Contemporary works are also placed throughout the building, including custom benches by Norman Teague and commissions by Jeffrey Gibson, Jules Julien and María Magdalena Campos-Pons.
Accessibility and civic narrative
Inclusive design is treated as a core part of the project rather than an add-on. The museum plans tactile stations and replicas, captioning, ASL interpretation, audio description, assistive listening, clear wayfinding and multiple opportunities for participation, with the aim of serving visitors of different ages and abilities.
The exhibitions place the Obamas' story within a wider civic narrative rooted in Chicago's South Side and shaped by national and international movements for justice. The museum also points to the Obama Foundation's Global Programs and to people continuing work in their own communities. Its intended takeaway is both historical and participatory: a deeper understanding of the Obama legacy and a stronger sense of visitors' own agency in democratic life.