Monumental Works: The Story Of Art And Artists At The Obama Center

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**Sasha-Ann Simons** (0:42)
Hey Chicago, I'm Sasha Ann Simons, and this is In the Loop.
Stick around till the end of this episode to get the latest on what's happening in and around Chicago with a couple of WBEZ journalists. But first, a walk through the campus of the Obama Presidential Center won't just take visitors through history. It'll introduce them to stories told through art. From large-scale installations to vibrant, intimate pieces, art plays a central role in the vision behind the center. It's because the campus isn't designed to be a traditional presidential library. Instead, Obama Foundation officials see it as a cultural institution. And the proof? Well, works from 30 artists are featured throughout, helping spark reflection and conversation. So what messages are embedded in these pieces? And what inspired the artists? In this episode of the pod, we'll check in with three of them, all from Chicago.
At the table was Tyanna Buie, who is a visual artist specializing in screen printing, Dorian Sylvain, who's a painter and muralist, and Sam Kirk, a multidisciplinary artist and muralist who collaborated with Dorian on a piece for the Obama Presidential Center.
Now, we're just days away from the grand opening of the center. Museum tickets are sold out. So I started by asking our panel how they're feeling at this moment. Tyanna went first.

**Tyanna J. Buie** (2:03)
I'm feeling great. It's so exciting to, if the day finally being here. So I'm like you, I'm like, is it happening?

**Sasha-Ann Simons** (2:10)
Yes. I can't believe it's this week.
Sam?

**Sam Kirk** (2:15)
Extremely excited.
My whole family's coming with me and a little bit of nerves. And I guess anticipation.

**Sasha-Ann Simons** (2:24)
Is it strange unveiling your baby in front of them?

**Sam Kirk** (2:29)
It is a bit. It's odd because my family usually sees my work in progress. And this has been kind of so, you know, enclosed in a way.
Also, just with community and the public, we're used to working outside. And so it's actually a big grand reveal in many ways. And so it's very exciting.

**Sasha-Ann Simons** (2:47)
Do you also have nerves, Dorian? How are you feeling?

**Dorian Sylvain** (2:50)
Oh, I'm the same, ditto. I'm extremely excited.
But as a Southsider, I've got to say watching this process has been such a treat. I mean, from I grew up on the South side, so I'm very intimately aware of and involved with that strip of land off of Stony Island. And so it has been such a joy to watch it to come to life. And these last few weeks, just watching them do the details, planting the flowers, the landscaping, it's just everything is just so beautiful. And so it's going to be so welcoming for everybody.

**Sasha-Ann Simons** (3:29)
So while I have you all here, I got to get into the gossip of it all. I mean, tell me what it's like to get the ask from the Obama Foundation. Walk us through how that happened for you, Tyanna.

**Tyanna J. Buie** (3:41)
Well, you know, it was one of those things where you're doing your thing as an artist, and then you get a call that's just say, hey, could you hop on a call for a potential opportunity? And then you do.

**Sasha-Ann Simons** (3:52)
A potential opportunity.

**Tyanna J. Buie** (3:53)
It was very cryptic. I had no idea. And I was like, okay.
And then it was just like, and we'll see what happens. Send us some images. I don't hear for eight months, so I forget about it. And then I get another like, could you hop on Zoom again? So I'm like, sure. Like, oh, congratulations. I'm like, yes, but for what? And then they say, oh, we didn't tell you. And so this is Virginia Shure, who's the head curator of the entire project. She's like, oh, yeah, the Obama Presidential Center. I was like, wait, what?

**Sasha-Ann Simons** (4:22)
So you didn't realize over that eight month period that this was, you were in the running to potentially be featured at the Obama Presidential Center.

**Tyanna J. Buie** (4:30)
I had no idea.

**Sasha-Ann Simons** (4:32)
Oh my goodness.

**Tyanna J. Buie** (4:32)
The surprise was amazing. And so I was like, okay. And then I just went to work and it was just time to just create sketches and figure out where is this work going to go?