President Barack Obama left office in January 2017. Before he did, he chose artist Kehinde Wiley to paint his official portrait. First Lady Michelle Obama picked Amy Sherald to paint hers.
Wiley and Sherald made history. They are the first African-American artists picked to paint official presidential portraits. The portraits were unveiled on February 12. They hang at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. The Washington, D.C., museum has a full collection of presidential portraits.
Wiley said, “Being the first African-American painter to paint the first African-American president: It doesn’t get any better than that.”
More from Arts
Share a Link
- Click the icon above to copy the url link to your clipboard.
- Paste the link into the location in which you share assignments with students. Examples might include, but are not limited to Canvas, Schoology and Edmodo.
Google Classroom
- Click on the icon above to share the article with a class in your Google Classroom.
- Choose an action. Options might include creating an assignment or asking a question.
