Springsteen, Bono and Stevie Wonder will help the Obamas open their presidential museum
Sold-out tickets and live streams will mark the ceremony as the center opens to the public the next day, the Obama Foundation said.
- On Thursday, June 18, 2026, the Obama Presidential Center will hold its grand opening ceremony in Jackson Park, Chicago, featuring a star-studded lineup of award-winning musical performers.
- Spanning 19.3 acres in Jackson Park, the $830 million campus developed by the Obama Foundation serves as a museum and community gathering space designed to encourage civic engagement.
- While the Thursday ceremony is invite-only, the Foundation is hosting a free watch party on Midway Plaisance starting at 9 a.m., with the center officially opening to the public on Juneteenth.
- Artists including Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, and Jennifer Hudson will perform at the ceremony, which CEO Valerie Jarrett called "unlike any other."
- A full weekend of community programming, including art installations and family activities, will follow the opening to celebrate the center's debut as a new cultural landmark in Chicago.
283 Articles
283 Articles
Letter: Trump 250 vs Obama Library
On June 18 the Obama Presidential Center opened. Performing were musical legends Stevie Wonder, Jennifer Hudson, Bono, Eddie Vetter, Marc Anthony, Bruce Springsteen, John Legend, and Christina Aguilera. Time restraints prevented several more artists, who volunteered, from performing.
Obama’s Long-Awaited Center Opens in Chicago
It took more than a decade of planning, a messy court battle with preservationists and years of plodding construction, but the Obama Presidential Center was finally unveiled on the South Side of Chicago on Thursday. The center officially opened to the public Friday.
The Washington Free Beacon
Conservative Review6 Things We Learned From the Obama Center Opening Ceremony
The Barack Obama Presidential Center is finally open to the public. The Obamas threw themselves an invite-only launch party on Thursday with all of their celebrity friends. All the living former presidents showed up with their spouses. Joe Biden was also there. Here are six things we learned: (Scott Olson/Getty Images) 1) It really is that ugly. The primary edifice, sometimes called the Obamalisk, is a hulking gray tower that appears to have bee…
What’s the Matter With Museums?
What’s not to like about museums? They offer information, cultural awareness, things to do and see, a pleasant place for people to meet, personal enlightenment—and on and on. However, for the people who live or work near arts institutions, the opening or expansion of a museum may mean noise, traffic congestion, gentrification, the appropriation of public parkland and a never-ending sinkhole for public money. Filmmaker George Lucas of Star Wars f…
Best moments from Obama's presidential center opening
A dedication ceremony for former President Barack Obama’s Presidential Center in Chicago on Thursday featured the Obama family, as well as several other former presidents, first ladies, Cabinet members, and politicians. The center, which opens publicly June 19 in time for Juneteenth and America 250 celebrations, has a 235-foot tower with a museum, a branch of the Chicago Public Library, and sports courts. The site is intended to function as a co…
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