Issue link: http://maconmagazine.uberflip.com/i/1546131
30 maconmagazine.com | August/September 2026 Sheridan, Karla Redding-Andrews, Tony Long, and many others, including the founders of Macon Magazine, Joni Woolf and Lynn Cass. It's moving for me to see the thoughtful, often untold, work they've done to preserve and lay a foundation for the beloved, modern city I see today," said Cate. "The Obama Presidential Center is much more than any of us could have imagined! It's providing a great 'go-to' place for civic participation — birthdays, picnics, family reunions and other celebrations. Creative endeavors, lectures, children's programming, and educational activities will provide lots of options for Chicago natives and visitors. It has been meaningful for me to be a part of this tremendous project." ABOVE J Cate Hill sits with the backdrop of the Obama Presidential Center Museum exterior, featuring a quote from President Obama's speech "You Are America," honoring the 50th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches. Photography of J Cate Hill: Andrew Fillmore The campus is open daily, free for all and at no charge. Visit obama.org for more. "I made friends in public schools from various cultures and walks of life, each with their own story. These experiences have shaped me." forth on stage at the plaza named for civil rights activist and U.S. Rep. John Lewis, who served in Georgia's 5th congressional district from 1987 until his death in 2020. The Obama Center's Chicago campus itself has ties to Macon. The 19-acre landscape was originally designed by the renowned NYC architectural firm founded by Calvert Vaux & Frederick Law Olmstead, who worked on projects that included Central Park and Prospect Park. In 1887, Vaux himself, working solo, designed Macon's historic Riverside Cemetery, one of the few documented Vaux landscape projects in the Southeast. Cate is eager to see the new center unfold and develop new connections, programs, activities, and opportunities for guests from around the world. It has been a heady, wild ride to get there and they have played a role in its existence. Their hometown and its people played a part in their appreciation of all of it. "Macon's Washington Park, the Ocmulgee River, and the wetland behind my childhood home on Thornwood Drive were the first green spaces I loved. Macon's historic architecture was the first to capture my imagination, and it shapes how I relate to the natural and structural environment today and how I speak about this dynamic, new Presidential Center — great history, nature and architecture!" "When I returned to Macon after a decade working in film in Atlanta and Los Angeles, I better understood the impact of community leaders like Jim Crisp, Charles Richardson, Miriam Paris, Chris C A M P U S A T A G L A N C E The Obama Presidential Center/Museum is like no other U.S. presidential library, and may set a precedent for future high-profile public spaces. First, all of Obama's presidential documents, ephemeral notes, and other papers associated to his presidency have been digitized and can easily be accessed in the center's library. The center incorporates a main museum and activity building with four floors of exhibits, stories, and experiences located on 18 acres of grounds for picnics, trail walking, sledding in winter, and other public activities. A full-size replica of the Oval Office with a panoramic view of the south and west sides of Chicago A museum featuring several pieces commissioned by the Obamas and other inaugural works An auditorium to accommodate crowds Several dining options and hosting options with catering A vegetable garden named for Eleanor Roosevelt (the vegetables are used in some dishes offered at the center's Tafari's Kitchen) An official branch of the Chicago Public Library where books can be checked out (and returned!) A recording studio and a creative design studio A regulation-sized basketball court and recreation center