Painting Michelle Obama

Sidedoor

Smithsonian Institution

African American History And Culture, Tony Cohn, Natural History, Air And Space, Society & Culture, Art19, Smithsonian, Science, Sidedoor, History Of The World, The Smithsonian, Pop Culture, Zoo, Dc, National Museum, Exhibit, History, National Zoo, American History, Exhibits, Postal Museum, Washington, Museum

4.6 • 2.3K Ratings

🗓️ 25 April 2018

⏱️ 26 minutes

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Summary

The day that Amy Sherald heard that she had been chosen to paint the official portrait of First Lady Michelle Obama, she called her mom to tell her the news, and then she told her dog. But soon after, the nerves set in. How was she going to create a portrait of one of the most iconic women in the world? In this episode of Sidedoor, we journey to Amy's studio to hear exactly how she captured the spirit of Michelle Obama in paint on canvas, and what she thinks of the reactions to her work.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is Sideor, a podcast from a Smithsonian with support from PRX. I'm Tony Cohn.
0:14.0	Back in fall of 2016, right around 18 months ago, Baltimore-based portrait artist Amy Cheryl got a phone call.
0:26.4	It was a number she knew.
0:27.7	It was a curator at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery, who had an unusual message.
0:33.0	She wanted Cheryl, at some point in the next couple of months,
0:36.2	to take the Mark train down to Washington, D.C.
0:38.8	and go to the White House.
0:41.8	Cheryl was stunned. And when the day came. Cheryl was stunned.
0:43.6	And when the day came, she was also a bit disoriented.
0:46.7	For some reason, when I walked into the Oval Office,
0:49.7	I was confused for about five seconds
0:51.7	about whether I was awake or sleep and it was it
0:55.6	just became so surreal because you see Michelle and Barack on TV all the time
1:01.6	you know and then seeing them in person it's Michelle and
1:03.0	burek on TV all the time, you know, and then seeing them in person,
1:04.8	it was just like a shock to my system
1:06.2	and I had to snap out of it because he was walking towards me to shake my hand.
1:09.4	I felt like I was standing there with my mouth open, you know, so I had to pull myself out of it.
1:14.8	But yeah, I was really nervous.
1:16.0	When she got over her nerves and let herself relax, Cheryl says that she felt a connection
1:20.4	with the Obama's.
1:21.8	First Lady Michelle Obama in particular. Here's how
	...

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