Obama Presidential Center Installation Will Celebrate The Beauty Of Black Women

Gates’s work for the center will occupy the Hadiya Pendleton Atrium within the Forum Building,

Artist Theaster Gates has been commissioned to create a major new artwork for the Obama Presidential Center, which centers on Black Women and Beauty.

Gates’s commission reflects his ongoing practice of elevating archives and everyday materials to celebrate Black cultural legacy. The artist and curator sources material from historical outlets such as the Johnson Publishing Company. The installations aim to add to the cultural and civic narrative of the nearly 20-acre campus set to open on Chicago’s South Side in spring 2026.

“The palette that I use is often materials that I find in the world. They carry so many stories. I’m often playing with photographs and archives to try to arrest all of these histories and bring them forward and make them interesting. It was amazing that I was tapped to create a permanent installation at the Obama Center. I was really proud. The project will pull from this wellspring of amazing historic Black images, particularly the Johnson Publishing Company’s archive. I will focus on Black women. And those will kind of demonstrate the ways in which Black folk have contributed to the political, social and economic fabric of our country,” Gates said in a promotional video by the Obama Foundation.

The long, two-part frieze will feature images printed on aluminum alloy and will be installed in the Forum Building’s interior space.

Gates’s work for the center will occupy the Hadiya Pendleton Atrium within the Forum Building. The area is named in memory of the Chicago teenager who marched in President Barack Obama’s second inauguration parade before her death from gun violence.

The installation’s subjects focus on the power and resilience of everyday life, especially emphasizing Black women and collective labor. Its concept is part of the Obama Foundation’s mission to integrate art throughout the presidential center’s civic spaces. The Obama Presidential Center includes a museum, a library, an education and community space, and commemorates the presidency of Barack Obama.

Gates, a Chicago native and founder of the Rebuild Foundation, has long used art and architecture to highlight and preserve cultural heritage, including community-driven projects such as the Stony Island Arts Bank and Dorchester Art + Housing Collaborative.

His commission for the presidential center furthers his commitment to bringing together art, history, and architecture.