Barack Obama

The Smithsonian's Obama Portraits Are Going on Tour

Don't worry: You have more than a year to see President Barack Obama's and Michelle Obama's portraits before they temporarily leave the National Portrait Gallery

The iconic portraits of President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will temporarily leave the National Portrait Gallery next year to go on a nationwide tour.

The portraits will go off-display in D.C. in May of 2021, according to a press release.

Kim Sajet, the Portrait Gallery's director, said in the release that the museum has seen a record number of visitors since unveiling the portraits in February 2018.

She says visitors come "not only to view these works in person, but to be part of the communal experience of a particular moment in time."

The year-long tour will kick off in President Obama's hometown at the Art Institute of Chicago on June 18, 2021. The portraits will then travel to the Brooklyn Museum in New York, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the High Art Museum in Atlanta and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston.

The tour will feature an audio-visual element, workshops and special presentations in each location, the Portrait Gallery says. The National Portrait Gallery also plans to release a book, "The Obama Portraits," on Feb. 11 in anticipation of the tour.

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