The Obama Center’s exhibits are interactive by design. The layout weaves contemporary art and digital history into a multi-sensory experience.
The center’s 225-foot-tall building is a Histofuturist’s classroom. A Histofuturist is a storyteller who preserves the knowledge of past realities while imagining future ones. Our children, especially, can benefit greatly from experiencing the awe of how learning is made to feel less like a chore and more like discovery.
The center’s Eleanor Roosevelt Fruit and Vegetable Garden is designed to blur the lines between the man-made and natural landscape. This is the Solarpunk lab atmosphere I desired for my high school geometry students. One where students could investigate sustainable architecture through miniature model-building and in-person collaborations with the City Office of Urban Planning.
Makerspaces with Gardens, DJ’s, and Theater
The Obama Center hosts a Hamilton Movie Night where guests can view the filmed Broadway performance under the plaza stars. Garden Gatherings allow visitors to make sun tea, create scent rollers, and share stories at a Sip & Share while enjoying music from DJ Ca$h Era. These curated experiences are built to bring diverse cultures together.
The kicker is that it’s not all just fun and games.
The Urban Growers Collective, a Black- and women-led non-profit, is also involved in building equitable local food systems outside the center’s location.
This groundbreaking space stands as the first fully digital museum of its kind. Bringing history to life through high-tech, sensory, and hands-on exhibits. Visitors can journey through displays highlighting political campaigns, landmark presidential policies, and the daily rhythms of White House life, including a life-sized replica of the Oval Office.
Breaking away from tradition, Obama’s presidential archive is also completely digital. The archive includes photos, records, videos, and a multimedia timeline available for everyone to access.
We Are Not Done
In Obama’s words, “There is more ground to be covered. There are more bridges to be crossed.” The center’s theme of collective intellectual and humanitarian cultivation stands as an exemplar for schools of the future.
For education leaders like Dr. Chris Emdin and the creators of High Tech High, this center represents a shared dream replicated: a learning environment so captivating that students might willingly disconnect from their phones to engage with the world around them. Perhaps the center’s greatest triumph, however, is that the inspiring words on the building’s exterior align with the generational wisdom being passed down through the activities inside.
The words etched on the top of the building are from Obama’s 2015 Selma speech:
“You are America. Unconstrained by habit and convention. Unencumbered by what is, ready to seize what ought to be. For everywhere in this country, there are first steps to be taken, there is new ground to cover, there are more bridges to be crossed. America is not the project of any one person. The single most powerful word in our democracy is the word ‘We.’ ‘We The People.’ ‘We Shall Overcome.’ ‘Yes We Can.’ That word is owned by no one. It belongs to everyone. Oh, what a glorious task we are given to continually try to improve this great nation of ours.”
We are indeed included in Obama’s America. And WE are not done yet.
Visit the Obama Presidential Center’s official website for more details on programs and admission.
Dr. Latesia Coleman is an Education Consultant and Program Manager specializing in Data Analytics for Policy & Public Management. She is an experienced principal researcher, author, secondary mathematics teacher, and grant writer with expertise in organizational improvement, communication, and forging partnerships with internal and external stakeholders. Dr. Coleman has extensive experience developing and implementing innovative, standards-based curricula, compliance frameworks, and mixed-methods research.
She is the Founder and CEO of Multi-Plex Consulting and previously served as an Associate Researcher for the EcoFem Lab at the University of South Florida.
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