The Obama Foundation has commissioned artist Theaster Gates to create an expansive frieze for the Pendleton Atrium of the Obama Presidential Center (OPC), set to open on Chicago’s South Side in 2026. The installation will draw from the Johnson Publishing Company image archive and the Howard Simmons photographic collections, celebrating the visual archives of Ebony and Jet magazines. Gates, who founded the Rebuild Foundation in 2009, will join nine other artists—including Kiki Smith, Nick Cave, Marie Watt, Jenny Holzer, and Idris Khan—whose works were announced in September for the OPC campus.
This commission matters because it centers the legacy of Black publishing and photography within a major presidential institution, reinforcing the Obama Presidential Center’s commitment to local South Side artists and communities. Gates’s work, rooted in decades of cultural revitalization through Rebuild Foundation, highlights the role of artists in preserving memory and democratic ideals. The OPC’s broader art program, featuring both established and emerging voices, positions the center as a significant new platform for public art and historical storytelling on Chicago’s South Side.