As the Obama Presidential Center prepares to release another round of museum tickets on July 8, visitors continue flocking to the South Side campus, describing an experience they say is both educational and emotional.
The museum has been sold out through November since before its June 19 opening. The next ticket release will cover visits from September through January 2027, following a one-week presale for founding members.
The museum is timed-entry, while most of the 19.3-acre campus is free and open to the public, including a new branch of the Chicago Public library, playground, gardens, gift shop and café.
Illinois residents receive free museum admission on Tuesdays, but they must reserve a timed-entry ticket in advance, which are subject to availability. Capacity limits remain the same on free-admission Tuesdays. Regular admission is $26 for Illinois residents and $30 for non-residents.
Omega Finney, a recent visitor from Atlanta, described her experience as nostalgic and educational.
“The community service and the education that’s being provided here, like the three branches of government and how that works, and what the rooms are in the White House, teaches us all about it,” Finney said.
Among the exhibits that stood out to Finney was one highlighting the 13 animal species named after Obama. Scientists have named spiders, fish, birds, beetles, a bee, a sea slug, a lizard and other organisms after the former president.
The museum spans five floors, with four ticketed levels exploring American history alongside Obama’s life before, during and after his presidency.
The second floor explores the early lives of former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama, the Civil Rights Movement, community organizing in Chicago, the 2008 campaign, the night Obama was elected for his first term and the grassroots movements that helped.
“The experience just makes me admire him more and be appreciative of his time that he sacrificed with his family to give to the United States of America and the whole world,” Finney said.
Visitors paused to photograph miniature replicas of White House spaces, including the South Lawn, State Dining Room, Old Family Dining Room and East Room.
Mary Mansfield, a Chicago resident, was waiting to enter the replica Oval Office on the fourth floor.
“I do not even have words for that right now. Just seeing all of this and being here, I’m very emotional right now,” she said.
Inside the replica Oval Office, visitors are invited to sit behind the replica Resolute Desk to take a photo. When leaving the office, visitors are presented with a glass showcase displaying 12 of the former first ladies’ most iconic dresses, celebrating fashion and design talent.
Lora Ladew, from Evanston, said that she’s been following Obama’s journey since long before his presidency, and she was excited to come and visit.
“I love what he did in terms of educating people on democracy, which is something we all need to continue to fight for, particularly under the circumstances that we are in right now,” Ladew said.
She said the center preserves the nation’s history, tells difficult truths and reminds visitors that democracy requires continued work.
Crowds gathered on the fifth floor around a large interactive panel, typing their names into the screen and watching them float up onto a massive digital wall.
As Jason Grohoske, a resident of Calumet Park, just south of Chicago, finished exploring the museum floor before heading up to the Sky Room, the history he looked at made him think about the present day. He said he worries that the country is not moving in the right direction.
“I would say it’s where we have been and where we were going,” Grohoske said. “I felt great a few years ago when I was voting. And now, I still vote, but it’s the propaganda that you kind of worry about.”
The museum experience concludes in the Sky Room, where visitors can stand quietly along floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Jackson Park and the South Side neighborhoods where Obama began community organizing more than four decades ago, before returning to ground level.
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