On November 18, 2004, in a heavy downpour, President Bill Clinton welcomed the world to the Clinton Presidential Center for the first time. In 2024, we’re celebrating 20 years of milestones and memories.
Your 20th anniversary gift will help us continue inspiring new generations of leaders, advancing opportunity, and creating a shared sense of community and civic responsibility.
Buy tickets to the Clinton Center at the link below or inside the museum. Tickets are not required to dine at 42 bar and table, shop at the Clinton Museum Store, or explore the Clinton Presidential Park.
For two decades, the Clinton Center has served as a cornerstone in Central Arkansas – catalyzing billions of dollars in economic impact; welcoming more than 5.2 million visitors from around the world; opening its doors to 510,000 students and educators who visit the Clinton Center at no charge; showcasing more than 60 temporary exhibits; hosting thousands of public and educational programs; and answering the call to serve when crisis hits, such as providing one million meals during COVID-19 in partnership with local and international organizations.
“The thing I want most is for people…whether they’re Republicans or Democrats, liberals or conservatives, to see that public service is noble and important, that the choices and decisions leaders make affect the lives of millions of Americans and people all across the world. I want young people to…see not only what I did with my life, but to see what they could do with their lives. Because this is mostly the story of what we, the people, can do when we work together.” —President Bill Clinton at the Clinton Center’s grand opening in 2004
President Bill Clinton at the Clinton Center's grand opening in 2004
Celebrate with Us
Join the Conversation
We invite you to join the conversation on social media by following our channels and using the hashtag #ClintonCenter20.
Sign up for updates
Stay up to date on the Clinton Center’s 20th Anniversary.
from around the world have visited the Clinton Center to learn about the Clintons’ lifetimes of leadership
510K
STUDENTS AND EDUCATORS
have participated in civic education and cultural programming free of charge at the Clinton Center
800K
HOURS OF SERVICE
given by Clinton Center volunteers, a contribution valued at nearly $19,000,000
1+M
MEALS AND FOOD BOXES
delivered to students, families, seniors and others from the Clinton Center during the COVID-19 pandemic
500M
PEOPLE
benefiting from +4,000 Clinton Global Initiative Global Commitment to Action in 180 countries
537
DIVERSE PROFESSIONALS
have sharpened their leadership abilities through interactions with Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush through the Presidential Leadership Scholars Program
610
STUDENTS
have graduated from the Clinton School of Public Service at the University of Arkansas since it opened in 2005
500K
HOURS SERVED
in 94 countries, by Clinton School of Public Service students while earning their degrees
12.5K
STUDENT LEADERS
in 94 countries, by Clinton School of Public Service students while earning their degrees
1M
DOSES
of life-saving naloxone distributed through the Clinton Global Initiative’s Overdose Response Network
29.8M
PEOPLE
with access to life-saving HIV/AIDs, tuberculosis, and malaria medications worldwide through the Clinton Health Access Initiative
1.4M
BOOKS
donated to children and families across the United States through Too Small to Fall
31M
CHILDREN
leading healthier lives across the United States through the Alliance for a Healthier Generation
400+M
TIMES THE FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT
signed into law by President Clinton, has been used so workers could care for their families or themselves
1+M
AMERICORPS MEMBERS
have contributed 1.4 billion service hours since the program was established during the Clinton administration
21+M
NEW JOBS
created during the Clinton administration with income growth across all income brackets
Resolved conflicts
and championed peace from Northern Ireland to the Middle East to the Balkans
2001
Groundbreaking Ceremony of the Clinton Center
2004
Grand Opening of the Clinton Center
In November, President Bill Clinton – along with four American presidents and more than 30,000 people in attendance – welcomed the world into the Clinton Center for the first time!
2005
Exhibit: World of Music
🎸 Our first-ever temporary exhibit highlighted President Bill Clinton’s love of music and the influence it has always had in his life. “A World of Music.” More than 500,000 people visited the Clinton Center the first year it was open.
2005
Clinton School of Public Service Enrolls First Class
🧑🎓 The Clinton School of Public Service, the first institution to offer a Master of Public Service degree, enrolled its first class.
2006
Architecture Award
🏆 TheAmerican Institute of Architectsrecognized the Clinton Center, which was designed by Polshek Partnership Architects, for excellence in architecture.
2006
Senator David Pryor Retired
🎉The Clinton School’s inaugural class graduated and its founding dean, Senator David Pryor, retired.
2007
Inauguration of the Frank and Kumpuris Distinguished Lecture Series
🤝 President Bill Clinton inaugurated our Frank and Kula Kumpuris Distinguished Lecture Series. Former Secretary of State James Baker spoke later in the year.
2007
Platinum LEED-EB Certification
✅ We upgraded our sustainability practices and earned Platinum LEED-EB certification, the first federally maintained facility to receive this recognition.
2008
Honored World AIDS Day
❤️ On World AIDS Day, we hosted a symposium with Heifer International and Winrock International to highlight global efforts to combat AIDS. We also displayed a portion of the AIDS Memorial Quilt.
2008
Exhibit: Art of the Chopper
🏍️ “Art of the Chopper” featured 30 custom motorcycles created by preeminent craftspeople.
2009
5-Year Anniversary
🗳️ During our 5th-anniversary celebration, President Bill Clinton led elementary school students on a memorable museum tour and shared the importance of public service. More than 260,000 students and educators visited the Clinton Center in the first five years.
2009
Exhibit: Peter Max Paints America
🎨 “Peter Max Paints America” displayed more than 250 works by the iconic artist.
2009
Exhibit: From the Moon to Mars
🧑🚀 “From the Moon to Mars” commemorated the 40th anniversary of the moon landing.
2010
Exhibit: Read by Pins
✨ Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright joined for the exhibit opening of “Read My Pins: The Madeleine Albright Collection,” which featured more than 200 pins from her famous collection and later participated in a Kumpuris Distinguished Lecture.
2010
Kumpuris Lecture: Laura and Lisa Ling
🗣️ Laura and Lisa Lingdiscussed their book, “Somewhere Inside: One Sister’s Captivity in North Korea and the Other’s Fight to Bring Her Home,” during a Kumpuris Distinguished Lecture.
2010
Groundbreaking
🔨 We broke ground on a renovation of the historic Rock Island Railroad bridge, which became the eastern river crossing of the Arkansas River Trail for pedestrians and cyclists.
2011
Little Rock Nine
🏅 President Clinton joined the Little Rock Nine to open a new exhibit featuring one of the Congressional Gold Medals he presented to the desegregation pioneers in 1999.
2011
Exhibit: Art of the Brick
🧱 “Art of the Brick” featured the masterpieces of lawyer-turned-LEGO artist Nathan Sawaya, including a replica of the Clinton Presidential Center.
2011
Curbside Couture Inaugurated
♻️ We hosted our first Curbside Couture, a “green” fashion show, which gave Arkansas students an opportunity to use their creativity and technical skills to create wearable designs made of recycled material.
2011
Bridge Dedication
🙌 The Clinton Family dedicated the Clinton Presidential Center Park Bridge and the Bill Clark Wetlands, a restored river habitat.
2011
20th Anniversary of 1991 Presidential Campaign Announcement
President Clinton and Secretary Clinton celebrated the 20th anniversary of the announcement of his presidential campaign at the Old Statehouse with friends and former staffers.
2012
Exhibit: Play Ball
⚾ We hosted “Play Ball” in partnership with the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum, a temporary exhibit featuring more than 100 historic artifacts.
2012
Exhibit: Remarkable Women, Extraordinary Lives
💜 “Dorothy Howell Rodham & Virginia Clinton Kelley: Remarkable Women, Extraordinary Lives,” a temporary exhibit that highlighted the lives of Chelsea Clinton’s grandmothers.
2012
Club de Madrid
🌐 President Clinton welcomed more than 40 former heads of state to the Clinton Center for the Club de Madrid Annual Conference. He also hosted 45 foreign ambassadors as part of the Department of State’s Experience America program.
2013
Exhibit: Oscar de la Renta
👗 “Oscar de la Renta: American Icon” celebrated the renowned work and life of the designer, featuring more than 30 of his iconic creations. The Clinton Family joined Oscar and Annette de la Renta, Anna Wintour, Andre Leon Talley, and other fashion icons for the exhibition opening.
2013
Exhibit: Tribute to George Washington
📜 We displayed George Washington’s personal copy of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights in “Tribute to George Washington.”
2013
Inspiring Speakers
Former Vice President and Nobel Peace Prize Winner Al Gore, Nobel Peace Prize Winner Leymah Gbowee, and Dr. Sanjay Gupta were all featured in Kumpuris Distinguished Lectures.
2013
Three millionth visitor
🇮🇪 We welcomed our 3 millionth visitor, Diarmuid Coyle of Dublin, Ireland.
2014
10-Year Anniversary
🥳 We celebrated an amazing decade of service with “The Work Continues: Celebrating 10 Years of the Clinton Presidential Center.” Over our first 10 years, we welcomed 3.7 million visitors and catalyzed $3.3 billion in economic impact.
2014
Exhibit: Chihuly
💎 “Chihuly” presented an immersive and astounding visual presentation of color, shape, and form, featuring new and early work by representing American glass artist Dale Chihuly.
2014
Exhibit: Spies, Traitors & Saboteurs
🕵️ “Spies, Traitors & Saboteurs: Fear and Freedom in America,” an exhibit produced by the International Spy Museum, invited visitors to uncover stories of espionage, treason, and deception in the United States from 1776 to today.
2015
Two Iconic Exhibits
🦖 We hosted the world premiere of “Dinosaurs Around the World,” which featured 13 life-sized animatronic dinosaurs, fossils, and presidential artifacts related to dinosaurs, and “Coca-Cola: An American Original,” which celebrated the artistic and cultural history of the iconic Coca-Cola bottle during its 100-year anniversary.
2015
Anne Frank Tree Installation
President Clinton dedicated the Anne Frank Installation, a reflective space that conveys the complex history of human rights in Arkansas and around the world.
2016
Presidential Leadership Scholars Graduation
🎓 We hosted the graduation of the second Presidential Leadership Scholars cohort at Little Rock’s historic Central High School. The ceremony included members of the Little Rock Nine, Prime Minister Tony Blair, and Presidents Clinton and Bush.
2016
Exhibit: American Champions
🏅 “American Champions: The Quest for Olympic Glory,” chronicled the story of American athletes in the modern Olympic Games.
2016
Exhibit: Ladies and Gentlemen… The Beatles!
🎶 To celebrate 50 years of Beatlemania, we hosted “Ladies and Gentlemen… The Beatles!”,which included more than 400 pieces of memorabilia.
2017
Former Liberian President and a Trailblazing Author
We hosted two Kumpuris Distinguished Lectures: 🚀 Margot Lee Shetterly, bestselling author of Hidden Figures, and 🇱🇷 President of Liberia Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, in conversation with President Clinton.
2017
Exhibit: Mandela: The Journey to Ubuntu
🇿🇦 “Mandela: The Journey to Ubuntu”commemorated the life and legacy of former South African President Nelson Mandela.
2017
Fusion: Arts + Humanities Arkansas
We launched “Fusion: Arts + Humanities Arkansas,” a program promoting heritage and culture and celebrating human achievement by weaving together the arts and humanities. The inaugural Fusion program focused on the Quapaw Tribe in Arkansas.
2017
25th Anniversary of Election
Clinton campaign and administration alumni, friends, and family came together to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the election of President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore.
2018
Kumpuris Lecture: “The President is Missing”
🕵️Mary Steenburgen moderated a Kumpuris Distinguished Lecture with President Clinton and bestselling author James Patterson who discussed their book, “The President is Missing.”
2018
“The Colored Girls”
👏 Donna Brazile, Yolanda Caraway, Leah Daughtry, and Minyon Moore, authors of “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Politics,” joined in conversation.
2018
Holocaust Survivors Inspire Students
Thousands of students met Holocaust survivors Dr. Irene Butter and Ben Stern who spoke about human rights and shared their stories of perseverance.
2018
White House Collection of American Crafts
Secretary Hillary Clinton opened “The White House Collection of American Crafts: 25th Anniversary Exhibit,” which displayed 73 works by America’s foremost craft artists.
2019
Launch of Bridge Builders
Our new “Bridge Builders: Conversations with Interesting People” series kicked off with Secretary Madeleine Albright, author Samantha Allen, Governor Terry McAuliffe, and a conversation “Reflecting on Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Impact in Arkansas.”
2019
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
👩⚖️ We were honored to welcome the Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg for aKumpuris Distinguished Lecture moderated by Nina Totenberg. The event drew nearly 15,000 people to Verizon Arena.
2019
Economic Inclusion and Growth Conference
✅ President and Secretary Clinton convened business, government, and civil society leaders for “Economic Inclusion and Growth: The Way Forward,” a domestic economic policy conference.
2020
COVID-19 Meals Program
💪 When schools, and the Clinton Center, closed due to the pandemic, we partnered with World Central Kitchen, the City of Little Rock, school districts, local food trucks, and others to prepare, package, and deliver one million meals healthy meals to people in need.
2020
Bridge Builders with Ibtihaj Muhammad
🤺 Olympic fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad joined Chelsea Clinton for a virtual “Bridge Builders: Conversations with Interesting People” program.
2021
Cool Globes at the Clinton Center
🌎 In May, we unveiled “Cool Globes: Hot Ideas for a Cooler Planet,” featuring 26 globes designed by different artists to present solutions to climate change.
2021
Scalia/Ginsburg: An Opera by Derrick Wang
We partnered with Opera in the Rock to present five performances of “Scalia/Ginsburg: An Opera by Derrick Wang,” which portrays the seemingly unlikely friendship between the late Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia.
2021
Reopening of the Clinton Center
👐 In November, we reopened to the public after being closed for 18 months due to the pandemic, ready once again to serve as a hub for civic, cultural, and community programs and events.
🟣 “Women’s Voices, Women’s Votes, Women’s Rights,” was a vibrant, multimedia exhibition exploring the risks women and their allies took to win the vote, expand democracy, and elevate human rights over the past two centuries. A collection of 18 artistic quilts commissioned especially for the exhibition was displayed alongside historic artifacts, documents, and media.
2022
Women’s Voices Summit
💜 Secretary Clinton and Chelsea Clinton convened national and global leaders from across the public and private sectors for the Women’s Voices Summit, which explored the unfinished business of the 21st Century – women’s equality.
2023
Exhibits: Dinos and State Visits
“Dinosaur Explorer” welcomed families to explore an interactive world of our prehistoric predators and “Be Our Guest” took visitors behind the scenes to see the intricate planning and detailed execution of diplomatic visits hosted by the Clintons at the White House.
2023
Expansion Announcement
We announced plans for a major expansion of the Clinton Center, to be designed by Studio Gang, the award-winning international architecture and urban design practice led by Jeanne Gang. The expansion will enhance our ability to host exhibitions, convene global leaders, and provide educational opportunities.
2023
AmeriCorps Turned 30
💙 At “AmeriCorps: Thirty Years Forward Summit,” President and Secretary Clinton convened national service champions, leaders in the public and private sectors, and some of the more than 1.25 million AmeriCorps alumni to celebrate the 30th anniversary and future of AmeriCorps.
2024
The Barber of Little Rock
💈 We hosted a screening of the 2024 Academy Award-nominated documentary short film, “The Barber of Little Rock.” The program followed with a conversation with the film’s directors, John Hoffman and Christine Turner; producer Taren Robinson; and its main subject, President and CEO of People Trust Arlo Washington.
2024
Naturalization Ceremony with President Clinton
🇺🇸 On Presidents Day, President Clinton joined us to welcome 37 new U.S. citizens during a naturalization ceremony held by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas.
2024
Secretary Clinton and Archivist of the U.S. Colleen Shogan
🙋♀️ Our Women’s History Month program featured Archivist of the United States Colleen Shogan and Secretary Hillary Clinton who discussed women in leadership, the importance of civic education, and how presidential libraries help our democracy.
