Njideka Akunyili Crosby has captured global attention once again as the artist selected to paint the first official joint portrait of former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama for the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago.
The monumental work, titled The Obamas: Springing Forth (2026), was unveiled on June 14, 2026, just ahead of the Center’s public opening on Juneteenth.
Pan-Atlantic Kompass reports the Obama Foundation is building the Barack Obama Presidential Center at 6001 S. Stony Island Avenue in Chicago, with its commissioning scheduled for June 19.
The nearly 20-acre campus is far more than a museum; it houses art installations, a new library, a basketball court, and a picnic area complete with grills.
Mrs Obama announced the portraits in a video posted to her X page on Monday, showing her, Mr Obama, and the 43-year-old artist walking through the library to where the painting hangs.
Speaking in the video, Mr Obama and his wife, who are already in Chicago ahead of the grand opening, described the portrait as fantastic and beautiful.
“Oh! My God, you got everything in there. My only real question is, why didn’t you dye my hair in the program? Don’t they usually touch it up a little bit?” Mr Obama asked jokingly.
Mrs Obama, however, revealed that she had long wanted Ms Akunyili-Crosby to paint her portrait.
“You know how long I’ve been wanting this woman to do something with and for me? It was an honour. I mean, we did it.”
The Enugu-born described the painting as both rewarding and challenging.
She added that it pushed her beyond her comfort zone and demanded the best of her craft.
“So I drew first of the two of you. We read all your books, listened to all the interviews you’ve done, and watched all the podcasts and videos. My whole studio got to know you.
“I wanted to make these decisions that tapped into those memories. So when you saw this, it felt familiar”, she said.
Pan-Atlantic Kompass also reports that Njideka Akunyili-Crosby is the daughter of the late Nigerian information minister, Dora Akunyili.
Born in 1983 in Enugu, Nigeria, Njideka Akunyili-Crosby grew up in a middle-class family with a strong emphasis on education. Her mother was a professor of pharmacology, and her father a surgeon. She moved to the United States as a teenager, initially settling in Philadelphia.
Crosby earned a BA in Biology and Art from Swarthmore College (where she met her husband, artist Justin Crosby), a post-baccalaureate certificate from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and an MFA from Yale University in 2011. Her work powerfully explores the hybrid experiences of diaspora, blending her Nigerian roots with American life through intricate, layered compositions.
Akunyili-Crosby is renowned for her distinctive technique combining painting, drawing, colored pencils, charcoal, and photo transfers sourced from personal archives, Nigerian magazines, family albums, and cultural ephemera. Her densely layered figurative works create what she describes as a “third space” — a vibrant fusion of cultures, identities, and personal narratives.
Major institutions including the Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, and Tate have collected her art. She has received prestigious honors such as the 2017 MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship, a United States Artists Fellowship, and multiple honorary doctorates. Her market presence is equally strong, with works commanding millions at auction and fairs like Frieze.
