The Obama Foundation announced the final group of major artist commissions for the Obama Presidential Center in advance of the June 19 opening in Chicago. Njideka Akunyili Crosby, María Magdalena Campos-Pons, Jeffrey Gibson, Rashid Johnson, Hugo McCloud, Martin Puryear, Lorna Simpson, and Norman Teague are creating major site-specific works for the campus, joining a growing roster of artists whose work is central to the Center’s vision of civic engagement.
María Magdalena Campos-Pons' commission, Still Holding the Scent of Flowers, is a mixed-media installation of the White House Rose Garden, near the replica of the Oval Office in the Museum exhibits. The work weaves roses, tulips, magnolias, pink and blue hyacinths, carrots, broccoli, herbs, and apple tree blossoms into a meditation on the American landscape, drawing on the history of the garden and Mrs. Obama’s focus on healthy eating. Campos-Pons’ interpretation of the White House Rose Garden is inscribed in bloom forever as a symbol of memory, renewal, diversity, and hope.
