Little girl staring at Michelle Obama portrait in viral photo thought she was a queen
Just last month the official portraits of Former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama were unveiled at the National Portrait Gallery. The paintings were somewhat of a departure from the norm and people love it.
Michelle Obama’s portrait was done by painter Amy Sherald.
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In her speech Michelle Obama said, “I’m also thinking about all of the young people, particularly girls and girls of color, who, in years ahead, will come to this place and they will look up and they will see an image of someone who looks like them hanging on the wall of this great American institution.”
Now we can see first hand what she was talking about.
A photo has surfaced of a little girl named Parker Curry, she is two-years-old, staring at the painting in what appears to be wonder. It was taken at the National Portrait Gallery in the days that followed the unveiling.
Ben Hines is the man who took the photo. He is 37-years-old and from North Carolina. He was in DC visiting his mother Donna. According to Hines, the little girl’s family were ahead of them in the lineup to see the painting of the former First Lady.
The little girl’s mother attempted to get the girl to turn around but she just wanted to stare at the painting.
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“Parker was in front of the portrait, and I really wanted her to turn around so I could get a picture with her, and she genuinely, honestly would not turn around,” her mother, Jessica Curry, said. “She was uncooperative with me because she was just so focused on the portrait and studying it, and she was just so fascinated.”
“In further discussion with (Parker) yesterday and today, I realized that she believes Michelle Obama is a queen, and she wants to be a queen as well …,” Curry shared.
“As a female and as a girl of color, It’s really important that I show her people who look like her that are doing amazing things and are making history so that she knows she can do it.”
“It was so touching and uplifting for me to see this beautiful child looking at a beautiful portrait of a powerful woman,” Hines said. “I was so delighted to have been in the right place at the right time.”
“I think we were all just smiling, and her joy and her awe was infectious,” he said.
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Donna said she felt as though time stopped as everyone watched Parker take in the Michelle Obama portrait.
“It’s hard to describe in words,” Donna stated. “She had such wonder on her face and her entire body just stopped as she looked at her, and she had this wonder that was silent and yet seemed to be saying something very big at the same time.”
