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"This Is Your Library": The Obamas Surprise Students at the Obama Center
President and Mrs. Obama read "Where the Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak to children in the new branch of the Chicago Public Library at The Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, IL, on June 19, 2026. Credit: The Obama Foundation

"This Is Your Library": The Obamas Surprise Students at the Obama Center

President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama surprised 25 students from nearby Hyde Park school William H. Ray Elementary at the Obama Presidential Center's Chicago Public Library branch at 10:15 a.m. The Obamas came out to read Maurice Sendak's children's classic "Where the Wild Things Are" and spent about 24 minutes reading as well as taking pictures with the students and teachers afterwards. "Are you telling stories up in here?" President Obama said to the kids after walking into the main read
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A Surprise Welcome: The Obamas Greet First Visitors to Their Presidential Center
All Together by Jules Julien in The Obama Presidential Center Museum in Chicago, IL, on March 1,2026 Credit: The Obama Foundation

A Surprise Welcome: The Obamas Greet First Visitors to Their Presidential Center

In a surprise appearance, the Obamas greeted the first 100 visitors to the Obama Presidential Center that first opened to the public on Juneteenth on Chicago's South Side. In awe, guests shook hands with former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama against the backdrop of a colorful, 38-foot-tall painting depicting a map of Chicago stretching to the ceiling – inspired by Carl Sandburg's 1914 poem about the city: "stormy, husky, brawling, City of the Big Shoulders."   The room is framed by
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The Power Behind The Curtain: Paul Tetreault
Image by Mariya Dempsey/Canva

The Power Behind The Curtain: Paul Tetreault

In the midst of change, social and political disarray, and division, art is something that has the power to bring people of all walks of life together.  For some, communal artistry can lie in painting or animation; for me, the heart of it lives in the theatre.  When I was around 6 years old, I remember going to Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. for the first time to see its yearly production of A Christmas Carol. As a young girl, always inspired by the theatre, I found joy in watching a produ
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Mariya Dempsey

Mariya Dempsey
President and Mrs. Obama Welcome First Visitors to Presidential Center
Njideka Akunyili Crosby: The Obamas: Springing Forth, 2026 Acrylic, colored pencils, charcoal, and transfers on paper © Njideka Akunyili Crosby Courtesy of the artist, Victoria Miro, and David Zwirner. Commissioned by The Obama Presidential Center. Photo by: Marten Elder

President and Mrs. Obama Welcome First Visitors to Presidential Center

On a Friday morning on Chicago’s South Side, President Obama and Mrs. Obama kicked off the public opening of the Obama Presidential Center with a special story time for children and families. Together, the Obamas read Maurice Sendak's beloved classic Where the Wild Things Are – which celebrates the power of imagination, curiosity, and storytelling – while welcoming a new generation to the Obama Presidential Center. The event reflected one of the Center's core missions: inspiring young people t
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Hardwired Attraction

Hardwired Attraction

“I’ve just never found a dark-skinned woman to be attractive.” During my early years of high school, I remember being a young, impressionable Black girl sitting in my math class at my PWI. I can’t recall which math class it was exactly, but I remember working on an in-class activity while I overheard three boys talking about their types. As I scribbled down numbers to look like I knew what I was doing, I found myself paying more attention to their conversation than my work. One of them – a blon
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Mariya Dempsey

Mariya Dempsey