Road trip 2: The Obama Presidential Center

The main purpose of our stop in Chicago was to visit this recently opened museum and center. My commentary about our visit is not just for those who voted for this person. It is to tell you about the center and my experience of it. The center’s purpose and mission are far beyond any one goal. The stated purpose is …"to inspire, empower and connect people to change their world.”

My travel companion planned ahead and got us tickets to the museum well in advance. The tickets are sold out now and into next year. I felt very fortunate to be able to visit so early in the museum’s public debut. Tickets are limited, and entries are timed so that museum-goers have space to view and contemplate each section without feeling crowded or hurried. Many exhibit areas are interactive. As one moves from place to place, there are hubs of conversation and not just between members of a party. Museum-goers sit together, interact with each other, and enter into dialogue.

The museum’s structure stands out in Jackson Park on Chicago’s South Side, close to the lake. Not everyone has been a fan of its design. The architects were Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects | Partners (TWBTA) in collaboration with associate architecture firm Interactive Design Architects (IDEA). They were fueled by their mission, which is: “We believe that architecture is the coming together of art and use, and can bring a sense of grace to life. The greatest buildings are places, which contribute to more than their particular task by elevating and improving the world.” Lofty and ambitious goals went into the painstaking planning of the center.

I have been a devoted museum-goer from an early age. Often, we think of museums as places to go to look at things. This space combines form and function, beauty and intention and invites you to think and learn about the history and ideals it represents. Art is everywhere and many pieces are colorful and huge. A wide variety of artistic voices are represented and the media they use vary as widely as the artists. For instance, this is a 37-foot-high multimedia map of the city by Mark Bradford titled “City of the Big Shoulders,” inspired by Carl Sandburg’s poem, “Chicago.” It took 5 years to create. You can see it from outside and from the first and second floors. He used canvas, paper, posters and rope. One experiences more and more of it from various vantage points. 

On the fourth level, there is a full- scale replica of the Oval Office and four miniature dioramas of key events. This one is from the “Women of Soul” concert. One can identify the musicians and the guests.

A visit is not complete without seeing some of the beautiful clothes the First Lady wore for various occasions and learning about the designers who created them.

The eighth level is the Nelson Mandela Sky Room. As you look out over the city, you realize you are looking out through the words on the outside of the building with the skyscrapers of downtown in the distance. The building's purpose reaches its literal and figurative pinnacle in this space. The texts of Obama's speeches form a dome around the skylight at the top. One is lifted up by the words and the views. The commentary on this space says: “Nelson Mandela’s life teaches that lasting change takes patience, moral clarity and willingness to see opponents as partners in building a more equal and humane society.”

The effect of the words and views at the top literally and figuratively lifted me to a wider vision.

Many visitors are moved to tears throughout the various levels. Thoughtfully, there are many boxes of tissues placed around the spaces. Reactions varied with visitors’ ages, life experiences, and racial backgrounds. There were many Chicagoans and many international visitors. For me, it was energizing to be among such a variety of guests.

We spent about three and a half hours seeing the museum and just some of the grounds. It seemed like longer as one immersed oneself in the world of sights and sounds and ideas that the center represents. It is an experience I will cherish and continue to process for a long time to come.

I hope you view my photos that I have included and also avail yourself of your own visit, as opportunity allows.

I leave you with this quote that is relevant in this primary and midterm election season: