(bright music)
- My mother was the biggest influence on my life.
She was a 18-year-old college student from Kansas
who had moved to Hawaii with my grandparents,
met my father, who was a graduate student from Kenya,
so she had me two years later.
My father was gone, and from the age of 20 on,
she had essentially raised me and my sister.
As a very young woman raising a child,
she somehow understood that if you love a kid enough,
even if you don't have a lot,
if you filled their mind with a sense of wonder and joy,
and you tell 'em that they can do anything,
it turns out the kid usually does okay.
When I was six, she remarried an Indonesian,
and we moved to the other side of the world.
So she ended up becoming interested
in the plight of poor women, became an advocate for them.
There was always that sense in her of human connection.
And, when I look at my values,
that core belief in our common humanity
and the inherent dignity of every person,
that was instilled in me by my mother.
When we thought about what might be a fitting way
to commemorate my mother's influence on me and my sister,
I thought where would she wanna be in this space?
I could picture her sitting on one of the benches
on a nice summer afternoon and just smiling,
watching a bunch of kids running through a fountain,
and I thought that would capture her,
who she was as well as just about anything else.
Maya is responsible
for some of the most important iconic sculptures
and public spaces in our country and around the world.
- When I was a child,
to me it was like part of second nature
that you're living with and engaging with art
in your everyday life.
We just were making things from the get go.
I have been drawn to water throughout my career,
and I've gone on to create
a lot of these outdoor public fountains.
And I think of them as being very communal, quiet pieces,
that are there to kind of engage you
in a much more meditative environment.
- For her, an Asian American woman,
to have risen to the pinnacle of a space,
that when she began, still wasn't particularly accommodating
towards people of color or women,
is a reminder that excellence comes in all shapes and sizes.
- I just thought, well, once it's built
they'll see how much it's there to teach us about history
in a way that allows you
to come away with your own thoughts.
The water jets will be cut into here with a hidden panel,
and the mist will just shoot water into the center.
And with this one, the water just quietly bubbles up,
will fill this hole and then cascade over the entire piece.
There'll be hidden lighting in here as well,
so at night, the Oculus will glow.
There is something so powerful
about a very still flowing use of water,
so that when you touch the water, you change it.
The art doesn't stop when I make the piece,
the art actually begins when you start engaging with it.
I have been so admiring of what the president has done
and continues to do and what the First Lady also has done,
and so I'm just honored to be a part of this project.
And for him to have chosen to name the garden
after his mother just makes me feel so great.
- My entire presidency was dependent on an amazing array
of people from my campaign and my administration,
whose hard work and faith and confidence and sacrifice
made everything possible.
- The Obama network is a family.
- There was always kind of a family atmosphere
of taking care of one another, relying on one another.
- I went into government as a woman of color, a Latina,
with no government experience.
President Obama, he opened doors
for people to think of themselves differently,
and I was one of those people.
- We started work on something
that seemed completely impossible, and it happened.
- Given the extraordinary things
that we were all able to do in 2008 and 2012,
it's been really, really inspiring to see
what all these amazing leaders have done since then.
- I'm so moved to know that Obama alumni
are helping create this space.
I love the idea of going there someday with my daughters
and help them begin to understand how powerful they are.
- To be able to bring a new generation into this fight,
into those principles of organizing,
it's a natural progress for the work we've done,
and they'll carry that on long after I'm gone.
- The fact that they are helping to build
not just this amazing water garden,
but essentially fill up this entire presidential center
is not just personally moving and gratifying,
but I think it is also just a reminder
of the kind of culture they've brought,
and they helped to build in the work of my presidency.
It's a good feeling to know that beloved community,
to quote Dr. King, that was created, continues.