Bush Presidential Center Programming
What do presidents, baseball and Christmas have in common? The Bush Center.
The George W. Bush Presidential Center has hosted a variety of interesting exhibits since it opened in May 2013, including a collection of gowns by famed designer Oscar de la Renta. But plans for 2015 comprise an expanded slate of public programming, including a brand-new speakers series.
That series, called Engage, features authors, innovators and others for onstage conversations about leadership and more contemporary topics. The series starts February 20 with an already sold-out event with the man whose name is on the library. He is scheduled to talk about his new book, 41: A Portrait of My Father.
Other speakers include former congressmen Martin Frost and Tom Davis, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, Dana Perino, and Rena Pederson. The latter gave a talk at TEDxSMU in 2013.
In addition, the center will host two new special exhibits: “Baseball: America’s Presidents, America’s Pastime” and “A Season of Stories: Christmas at the White House 2003.”
The baseball exhibit, on display March 21-October 4, will celebrate the sport’s role in American history and explore the relationship between U.S. presidents and the game of baseball. Among the displays will be a letter President Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote to call for baseball to continue during World War II and a detailed look at presidential first pitches.
The Christmas exhibit, on display November 23-January 8, 2016, will be the third such exhibit for the center. Visitors will be able to see what the White House did in 2003 to celebrate the season, including decorations that paid tribute to classic children’s stories.
Tickets for all Engage events will be offered to Bush Center members first, and then to the general public as space permits. The Bush Center will partner with the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth and the Crow Collection of Asian Art, among others, on certain events. To become a member, go to www.bushcenter.org/engage.