Another round of Obama Presidential Center tickets go on sale Wednesday

Tess Kenny, Chicago Tribune on Jul 7, 2026

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CHICAGO — Set your alarm clocks — the latest round of tickets to the museum at the Obama Presidential Center go on sale to the public Wednesday morning, and officials expect that demand to snag a spot will be high.

The tickets will go live at 9 a.m. Central time, according to an emailed newsletter from the Obama Foundation sent Monday night in anticipation of the release. Tickets will be available at obama.org.

The foundation said it expects high interest and that prospective ticketholders may experience a wait when they go to purchase, but assured that spots in line will be saved in a virtual queue.

People will be able to buy up to nine tickets, which are sold on a timed-entry basis and range in price from $15 to $30. The tickets will offer admission to the museum starting in the fall through Jan. 3, 2027.

The museum is currently sold out through September. The first round of tickets, through Nov. 30, went on sale in May and quickly sold out for the first few months of admission.

“The overwhelming interest we’ve seen since opening our doors is a powerful reminder of how much people are looking for spaces that bring us closer together,” Valerie Jarrett, CEO of the Obama Foundation, said in a statement late last month when the additional round of tickets was initially announced.

The Obama Center opened to the public on June 19, following a celebrity-packed ceremony on June 18, and the museum is the only part of the 19.3-acre campus requiring a ticket.

The rest of the grounds in the Jackson Park neighborhood are free and open to the public, including the Home Court athletic center, the public artwork, a branch of the Chicago Public Library, and a café and restaurant. The grounds are open 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

The museum is open 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Tickets are nonrefundable and safeguarded against reselling.

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(The Chicago Tribune’s Doug George contributed to this story.)

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