Nor Sanavongsay’s artworks to be displayed at the Barack Obama Presidential Center

Lao American artist Nor Sanavongsay, who has received word that several of his art pieces had been accepted for inclusion in the official collection of the Barack Obama Presidential Center when construction is completed. Nor Sanavongsay is the founder of Sahtu Press, and one of the Lao artists who created original art responding to President Obama’s historic 2016 visit to Laos during that time.

In 2016, President Obama made a historic 4-day visit to Laos for a summit of Southeast Asian countries. He was the very first sitting American president to visit the country, and his schedule included a town hall meeting with Asian youth in Luang Prabang, Laos, a tour of the COPE Visitor Center, numerous cultural photo-ops, and the delivery of a major address to the people of Laos on the legacy of war and the lingering challenge of UXO decades after the end of the Southeast Asians conflicts of the 20th century.

Currently living in the San Francisco Bay area, Nor Sanavongsay has been a member of the SatJaDham Lao Literary Project, the National Lao American Writers Summit, the Lao Artists Festival of Elgin, among many others. He is the author of children’s books inspired by Lao folktales, such as Xieng Mieng: A Sticky Mess. Nor also illustrated a Lao children’s book—Mommy Eats Fried Grasshoppers. He came to the United States at the age of three on January 29, 1979 with his family as refugees in Tennessee, ultimately resettling in Illinois where he developed his passion for art watching his uncle draw. At the age of twelve, he enrolled in a home study correspondence course providing training in cartooning and illustration at the Art Instruction Schools in Minnesota—the same one Charles Schulz, the creator of Charlie Brown, attended. He continues to hone his artistic skills at Workday, where he designs applications, leads the creation of a storyboarding kit for UX, and help manage a club to “Create Something” in their spare time. Many of his artworks could be found on his Instagram profile: @ArtofNor.

The Obama Foundation oversees the Barack Obama Presidential Center where Nor Sanavongsay’s art will become a part of the collection once construction of the center is completed. Groundbreaking is anticipated in 2020. 2020 is a significant year because it marks the 10th anniversary of UN Convention on Cluster Munitions that banned the use, manufacture, sale, and stockpiling of cluster bombs such as those used in Laos and Southeast Asia, and this year is also the 45th anniversary of the Lao diaspora when many resettled around the world after the end of the wars in Southeast Asia.